At a previous interview I was told that I really should meet Morgan Atkins because she had an amazing story. I called Morgan and begged her to meet with me and let me have her story for an article. While most of the following will not have details for the sake of her privacy, she did allow me to share her general story. Morgan is one of Roundup's own. Raised here as a child and as an adult, she is living here with her husband raising her own children in the community. Morgan like many young people in our community began experimenting with drugs as a teenager, and soon succumbed to addiction.
Morgan began doing drugs as a teen after being diagnosed with ADHD. She was prescribed medication for this condition, and would save her pills up for the weekend unbeknown to her mom, and then take them all at once on the weekend. ADHD drugs are amphetamines in the same family as meth, and as Morgan would go on to tell me, these medications are life changing and addicting. Further in our conversation Morgan cautions that putting a child on these should be a careful decision. People rush to take a medication every time they are not feeling just right.
For Morgan many rash and heartbreaking choices brought her to the point of life where she would finally choose recovery. A recovery program through Rimrock called "Michelle House Program" is where her life would turn around. Having burned through various opportunities in the past, Morgan was not planning on this one being any different. It came down to one day at a time, then a week, then a month. The "Michelle House Program" allows you to have your kids with you while living in the house. This was probably the biggest help in Morgan's sobriety. "You kind have your own apartment in this facility", she explains. "You go to treatment all day long for about six months, then they transition you out to have a part time job or you go to school part time and get your GED. In about nine months to year you begin working full time but still coming back to the house,"your safe place", where you have support for any triggers". During this time you relearn how to bond with your children. The house also has help for kids to work through their trauma.
This process worked and Morgan and her children were able to move on to life outside the Michelle House. Soon the Rimrock Foundation called Morgan to speak to other addicts. She then became a Peer Support Specialist. She explained that this is the same as Licensed Addiction Counselor that goes through the board of behavior health, except that a LAC (Licensed addiction counselor) gets a client for 30 days whereas she, as a peer support, can stay with the client through their whole journey as long as they want or need her. To get this career one has to prove that they are a drug addict or criminal to get the license. The reason, she explained, is that sometimes when you have addicts, they will say "you don't know what it is like" but they cannot say that to her, because she DOES know what it is like. Currently Morgan has been working with about five girls for two years. On April 23, Morgan will be 7 years clean from meth addiction.
A wise soul once told me that; "Where every you find yourself in life, you can always take a step in the right direction." I told Morgan that her complete honesty was remarkable, to which she wisely replied that "If I tell the truth, no one can use it against me." There is a true freedom in honesty, yet it doesn't come easy. All the events that led Morgan to the point where she is now have made her able to help other people while making a living, a life that she could never have imagined for herself. The high that she was always chasing with drugs changed to a true happiness, that comes with living a life that is legitimate, helping others, being reunited with family, and moving forward in the real things that keep life worth living. In our community we hope that the experiences of those like Morgan will help someone else who may be struggling to find the help and inner strength they need to overcome.
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