For much of Joe C.’s young life, drinking and using drugs didn't seem unusual. He started in high school and continued long after. As the consequences of multiple DUIs, failed drug tests, and repeated time in jail mounted, Joe still didn't think he needed help. “That's just what you do,” he remembers thinking. Looking back, Joe says he didn't even recognize that he was in denial. 

By 1999, however, the consequences had become impossible to ignore. Joe was facing the possibility of significant time behind bars. He was at a crossroads: enter a substance use disorder treatment program or face a lengthy prison sentence. So, in December 1999, Joe entered Encompass Community Services' Sí Se Puede residential treatment program.

He didn't yet realize just how much his life was about to change. 

When Joe first arrived at Sí Se Puede, he brought with him what he describes as an old way of thinking: “go along to get along”. Slowly, he started listening and interacting with his house mates and counselors. Living alongside other people in recovery exposed Joe to different personalities, experiences, and perspectives. He began learning how to effectively communicate, how to work through conflict, and how to listen to people whose experiences were different from his own. Two Sí Se Puede staff members in particular, Jorge S. and Jorge G., became powerful role models for Joe. They helped him see possibilities for his life that he wasn't yet able to see for himself. 

One moment has stayed with him. Joe overheard Jorge G. talking with other counselors and advocating for him to remain in the program and continue to receive treatment. Someone was fighting for him. For Joe, realizing that his counselor genuinely believed in him helped him believe in himself. It was a pivotal moment. He started to understand that drinking and using weren't simply “the way it is.” He didn't have to keep sabotaging his future. He began recognizing how unhappy he had been and how profoundly his choices were affecting the people around him - especially his children. 

Joe had two young sons when he entered treatment, and he knew he had been letting them down. At the time he was going through treatment, his older son, age 12, was angry with him which, he knew, was a direct result of his addiction and not being present in his life. Thankfully, recovery gave Joe the opportunity to begin repairing the relationship. After his treatment, he started rebuilding trust and becoming the father he wanted to be. 

Twenty-five years later, the results of that work are among the things that make him proudest. Joe is deeply involved in his sons' lives. They text him every day to check in with him and tell him they love him. He has also built a positive relationship with the mother of his children and her husband, allowing them to successfully co-parent and remain connected as a family. And now, Joe has two grandchildren. “They're my world,” he says. For him, these relationships are reminders of everything recovery made possible. 

Sí Se Puede also helped Joe rebuild the other parts of his life. While still living in the residential program, one of the benefits was support and time to look for work, allowing him to secure a job before graduating and begin establishing stability with the support of his peers and counselors around him. He also worked through the process of regaining his driver's license. Having a driver’s license is something that seems ordinary to many, but it represented another piece of independence that substance use had taken from him.  

Then, Jorge S. encouraged Joe to seek work as a peer counselor at Sí Se Puede. “When you've been through it, it's so good to help others,” he says. He helped peers see that recovery isn't simply about stopping the use of drugs or alcohol. It's about learning how to live differently. 

For Joe, another life-changing behavior he learned at Sí Se Puede was the focus on mental and physical health. Counselors encouraged daily physical activity as well as eating healthy. After leaving the program, Joe continued to walk nearly every day and prioritized his physical health. Last spring, when Joe suffered a serious stroke, he attributes his ability to recover to his strong physical health all because of habits he learned over two decades ago, at Sí Se Puede. 

Joseph has now been sober for over 25 years. But, to him, the best measure of recovery is in the other details: 

Joe is quick to emphasize that recovery requires continued commitment. Staying engaged with sobriety remains critical, even decades later. But the tools, relationships, and lessons he gained at Sí Se Puede have given him a rock-solid foundation. “I wouldn't be where I am now without Sí Se Puede,” Joe says. His story is a reminder that access to substance use disorder treatment can change everything: lives, relationships, families, and, our community.