Heather never believed recovery was possible for someone like her. Addiction had swallowed years of her life, and violence marked nearly every chapter of her past. Her story begins in California, shaped by hardship but fueled by resilience. Through every setback, Heather found the will to survive. Her journey from instability and incarceration to recovery and purpose offers powerful insight into what happens when someone is finally given a real chance to heal.
Early Years: A Childhood of Chaos
Heather's childhood in California was anything but safe. Her environment was filled with drugs, domestic violence, and neglect. Her parents struggled with substance use disorders and surrounded themselves with people who did the same. Heather remembers being taken to parties, falling asleep on her parents' friends' couches. It was so common in her life that she didn't realize it wasn’t normal.
Her father, a Vietnam veteran, struggled with alcoholism. One night, after consuming nearly an entire bottle of liquor, he drove intoxicated and caused a fatal crash, leading to someone’s death. Heather was just six years old. Her father served a short period of incarceration and never returned to face the family’s new reality. They lost everything. Heather’s family moved into a one-bedroom apartment, sharing a bed in a life built on survival.
Her mother soon remarried, but this only deepened the trauma. Heather's stepfather was a violent, chronic alcoholic, and an IV drug user. Abuse filled their home. Her mother fought back, but the violence never stopped. Police visits became routine. Heather’s stepfather made it clear she was unwanted.
Heather and her mother moved often, trying to escape abuse and find stability, but the abuse always seemed to follow. Heather’s mother had no stable support system. Family members they turned to were often dangerous. In one home, they lived with Heather’s uncle, who had a history of sexual abuse. Heather and her mother fled again and again.
Heather's Exposure to Abuse and Instability
That pattern of running from danger became a constant. Heather and her mother ended up in Texas with another relative who had been just released from prison. He soon began abusing Heather. Her mother walked in on the abuse and, instead of intervening, decided they would move again. They returned to California, back to the same violence they had tried to escape.
By the time Heather was entering junior high, she had been in multiple schools and homes. She struggled with behavioral issues, stealing and acting out. Instead of counseling, she was put on Ritalin, a stimulant which opened the door to later struggles with substance abuse.
Descent Into Addiction
Heather began to use the prescription simulants as a way to escape her emotions. By 15, she was using methamphetamines daily. Her mother did little to intervene. Heather began to associate with a rougher crowd, people in their 30s who had been to prison. She began exchanging letters with incarcerated individuals. Her mother didn’t object.
When Heather was 16, her mother attempted suicide. Heather left home. She moved in with a friend. She had already been arrested multiple times and was regularly hanging out with gang members and adults deeply involved in the criminal justice system. Between the trauma of her home life, struggles with substance abuse, and the rougher crowd, a perfect storm had come together.
Heather’s Introduction to the Justice System
Heather’s first real consequences came when she was a teenager. Community service, mandatory meetings, and juvenile hall became familiar. She didn’t understand the system or the resources she needed. After finishing high school early, she entered a violent relationship with a much older man. To escape him, she moved to Utah to live with her estranged father.
But Utah didn’t offer a fresh start. Heather soon met someone selling meth and moved in with him. Her addiction spiraled out of control. She couldn’t keep a job, pay rent, or escape the cycle. Heather fell back into relationships with older, abusive men and started engaging in serious criminal activity, including fraud and identity theft.
Repeated Incarcerations and Missed Opportunities
Over several years, Heather was arrested again and again. She lived in drug houses, survived couch-to-couch, and disappeared from her family’s radar. Her charges were mostly fraud-related. None of them qualified her for drug treatment programs at the time. Despite her addiction being the root of her crimes, this went largely unaddressed through her time in the justice system.
Every release led back to the same people, same drugs, same places. She violated probation repeatedly. Eventually, a Salt Lake County judge saw something others had missed. He recognized her pattern and offered Heather one chance to go to treatment instead of prison.
Heather’s Turning Point
When the judge offered Heather a spot in a treatment program, she didn’t expect much. She had never been to treatment and didn’t believe recovery was for her. But she accepted. It meant getting out, even temporarily. She arrived at the Haven facility with nothing–no clothes, no hygiene items, no support system, and no hope.
But treatment marked the beginning of real change. Heather stayed clean and started learning how to rebuild. Through her new connections within the recovery community, she found housing and was offered a job working at a fish market.
Heather found that recovery was not about perfection. It was about progress. She took each step slowly, creating new routines and choosing to stay in environments that supported her sobriety. Heather began to believe she was worthy of something better. Eventually, she encountered a fellow member of the recovery community who recommended that she try going back to school for social work. Heather had never thought about the possibility of going back to school, and decided to apply. The process of applying and getting started was incredibly intimidating. However, after 10 years of hard work and dedication she managed to graduate.
Heather’s goal was to work in the behavioral health and substance use treatment field, giving back and helping others who had similar situations to her own. However, her record presented a barrier when it came to becoming licensed as a therapist. After a lengthy process she was eventually approved and licensed.
Heather’s Life Today
Today, Heather continues to walk a path of recovery and is bringing many others along with her. She is the Executive Director of The Haven treatment facility, the same place she entered treatment all those years ago. Overseeing the organization, her goal is to help expand operations and increase the number of individuals The Haven can serve. Heather has been with the Haven for 18 years and hopes to work there until she retires.
Heather’s journey stands as proof that people can change when they are offered real help. Her story challenges the idea that criminal records define a person’s worth. “We may have made mistakes, but we are not mistakes,” says Heather. While recovery isn’t easy, Heather’s transformation shows that healing is possible.
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This story is part of our #1in3 campaign, a project to end the stigma and raise awareness of how common it is to have a criminal record.
1 in 3 Americans has a criminal record, which is a lot more common than people think. No one expects to be involved in the justice system, but it can happen to anyone. People of all ages, backgrounds, genders, and income-levels are involved in the justice system. Their pathways vary, but the barriers of a record affect them all. Our hope is that by sharing their portraits and telling their stories, we can change the way people think about people with records and appreciate them for all they have overcome.
