Hear Stories from the Community
Jeanette Gaines
Lake County Resident
Leadville, CO
Jeanette’s life in recovery isn’t perfect, but it’s full.
After years of struggling with substance use, she’s now present for her kids, siblings, grandkids, and herself.
She shares how entering recovery helped her rebuild relationships, lead by example, and face life’s challenges without turning to drugs or alcohol.
Because even when life is tough, she knows she’s strong enough to get through it.
Joey Carlson
Licensed Addiction Counselor,
MidValley Family Practive
Joey Carlson’s recovery journey wasn’t instant, but it was transformative. After years of IV heroin, cocaine, and meth use, Suboxone became a critical part of his path forward.
For five years, he combined Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) with therapy and group support. That structure didn’t just help him stay off substances; it helped him rebuild. He stopped thinking about substances and started thinking about his future: grad school, healing, and a purpose-driven life.
A few months into recovery, Joey got a tattoo on his forearm, near the place he used to inject drugs. It reads: “A thousand in, a thousand out”, a nod to the idea that if you walk a thousand miles into the forest, you have to walk a thousand miles to get out. For Joey, it’s a personal reminder that recovery takes time, effort, and intention.
Gabe Cohen
Executive Director, Discovery Café
Gabe is the executive director of Discovery Café, a peer recovery support group in Garfield County. Growing up in suburban Long Island, he wrestled heavily with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, which led him towards substances as a way to find power in his own life.
Having moved to Garfield County in 1996, Gabe continued to grapple with substance use for decades until a incident in 2018 motivated him to take control of his life by entering recovery.
Becky Gordon
Executive Director, A Way Out
Becky Gordon, a longtime resident of Garfield County, is the executive director at A Way Out, a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families affected by substance use access recovery support, regardless of their financial status.
Becky grew up in a family impacted by substance use, and lost both her mother and brother. Eventually, Becky found herself struggling with alcohol before she made the choice to enter recovery.
Dustin Straight
Founder, Revolutionary
Recovery Services
Dustin, the founder of Revolutionary Recovery Services, enjoys high risk activities. He loves skydiving, backcountry skiing, and riding his motorcycle through Colorado's beautiful high country.
But one thing in life scared him more than anything else: getting sober.
Watch this video to learn how Dustin dealt with this fear, and why he says it’s an essential part of everybody’s recovery journey.
Jessica Taing
Director of Peer Support and Education at the RECONNECTED Foundation
Jessica Taing started drinking when she was 15 years old. Once she got to college, her alcohol use became more extreme, with her drinking every night. In 2021, amid a battle with depression, she made the choice to enter recovery.
Now, Jessica lives in Eagle County and works with the RECONNECTED Foundation as their director of peer support and education. In this video, she discusses how RECONNECTED supports people in their recovery, the role yoga has played in her journey, and the cultural barriers faced by people of color when it comes to getting support for substance use disorders.
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Luis Guzman
Sober House Manager,
Glenwood Springs
Meet Luis Guzman, a longtime resident of Garfield County. Growing up, Luis found himself hanging out with individuals who influenced his substance use.
Now a sober house manager living in Glenwood Springs, Luis looks back on his last 20 years and discusses how he found support at AA meetings, lessons he’s learned, and how the natural beauty of Garfield County helped him through his recovery journey.
Sherry Randall
Owner, Silver Llama Market & Eatery
Leadville, CO
Sherry has called Lake County home since 2006. She’s been clean from cocaine for 33 years and sober from alcohol for 23 years. Today, she owns the Silver Llama Market & Eatery, Leadville’s only restaurant without a bar.
In this video, Sherry shares why creating a sober, supportive space and workplace is so important for people in recovery - and how the Silver Llama is designed to be there for the recovery community.
Kaile Wilson
Medication Assisted Treatment Clinician and Care Coordinator, Denver Recovery Group
Kaile, now 9 years in recovery, shares her journey from experiencing a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) to becoming a Medication Assisted Treatment Clinician and Care Coordinator for Denver Recovery Group in Breckenridge.
Kaile’s lived experience fuels her mission to bring compassion, trust, and life-saving treatment to Colorado’s mountain communities, places that too often lack access to care.
“Our community will eventually collapse if we don’t have treatment and support.”
Hans Lutgring
Regional Outreach Director,
Health Solutions West
“If you’re struggling, please speak up. Ask for help. Create permission to just say, I’m struggling.”
Hans Lutgring has lived in Garfield County since 2007. As the Regional Outreach Director at Health Solutions West, he works to make sure people know they’re not alone in their struggles with Substance Use Disorder.
From connecting people to resources, to breaking down stigma, to working with local partners to build a healthier community, Hans knows that recovery and wellness are always possible.
Karlynn Fulmer
Executive Director, The Meeting Place
“When I was in addiction, I didn’t know what a healthy community or healthy friendship looked like. The Meeting Place showed me what that was.”
When Karlynn was at her lowest, a friend helped her find a way to begin her recovery from Substance Use Disorder. It changed everything for her.
Through support at Momenta Recovery, and becoming an active member at The Meeting Place, she finally found what she’d been missing: a sense of community, connection, and genuine friendships.
Cori Potter
Eagle County Resident
Cori grew up with substance use in her family and found herself pulled into the same cycle in her 20s. After losing friends and loved ones to substance use, she made the decision to choose recovery, and a life she truly loves.
For Cori, focusing on her physical health while finding support and community through the RECONNECTED Foundation made all the difference. With the guidance of mentors like Jessica and Rob, she discovered grace, community, and hope.
Her message to anyone considering recovery: “Do it. You are so worth it.”
Jay Fullam
Therapist, Glenwood Springs
Jay Fullam, a therapist living in Glenwood Springs, had his first sip of alcohol when he turned 14, which began a long struggle with substance use. Over the years, he was kicked out of multiple colleges, found himself in legal trouble, and estranged himself from his family and friends.
Upon entering recovery, Jay learned that living in a more vulnerable, open-hearted way was not only possible, but essential.
He rebuilt his relationships, started a family, and began to work in recovery spaces in an effort to provide others with the help he had found when he needed it most.
Korissa Hoover
Therapist, The Redpoint Center
Meet Korissa Hoover, a long-time resident of Garfield County.
After struggling with substance use in her younger years, Korissa says that recovery saved her life. She now works as a therapist at The Redpoint Center, helping others with their substance use disorders as she was helped years ago.
In this video, Korissa discusses how asking for help is a big strength, and that we all deserve the chance to get help, re-discover life without substances, and change.
Maggie Seldeen
Founder of High Rockies Harm Reduction
Maggie founded High Rockies Harm Reduction to provide evidence-based programming for people who actively use substances and to promote harm reduction practices.
Vanessa Lane
Peer Recovery Coach, Health and Founder of God's Beloved (soon to be known as Rise Up Recovery)
Vanessa is a dynamic community advocate who provides essential support and recovery services. She leads peer support and recovery meetings in Eagle County Jail and facilitates similar activities in Garfield County Jail. In addition, Vanessa works as a peer support specialist, helping individuals referred from various community sources and hospitals to start Suboxone, a medication that helps manage withdrawal symptoms.
Rob Shearon
Executive Director and Founder of RECONNECTED Foundation
Introducing Rob Shearon, a recovery and wellness coach and founder of RECONNECTED Foundation. Rob works to help residents - including adults and families - in Eagle County and surrounding counties through recovery by providing peer support services, social events, and community education.
Rob has a passion for combining the outdoors with people’s journeys in recovery. His mission is to help clients realize recovery is both fun and achievable.
Eric Turner
Founder of Rock to Recover
Meet Eric Turner, founder of Rock to Recover as well as a Certified Addiction Technician, a Certified Anger Management Specialist, and the President of Moving Mountains Recovery LLC. Eric struggled with his own addiction, and found solace during recovery playing his guitar which inspired him to found Rock to Recover, its slogan: “making music to fight substance abuse and improve mental health.”
Rock to Recover provides a sober environment that promotes positive mental health while asking attendees to participate in performing musical covers or originals. Participants can use the instruments provided and are also encouraged to bring their own. No musical experience is required, and everybody is welcome (community members in recovery, as well as those who are not).
