The moment Denika walked back into LARC—Victory Programs’ Living and Recovering Community—the room immediately lit up. Returning to visit as a recent graduate of the intensive 90-day stabilization program, she was greeted with joyful smiles and compliments from clients and staff. She was all done up with new hair, lashes, and a vibrant all-red outfit. When asked how she has been doing lately, her response was radiant: “I’m blessed. Life is lifing.”
“I’m blessed. Life is lifing.”
Denika’s path to this moment involved moving through detox, Transitional Support Services (TSS), and Clinical Stabilization Services (CSS) before arriving at LARC. She is the first to acknowledge that reaching this point required brave, deeply personal work. Having tried to find recovery for decades—going “in and out” of programs, and having visited LARC even before it transitioned to a harm reduction model—she admits that in the beginning, staying was a “really bad challenge.”
Facing illness and embarrassment during her early trials, she made the vital choice to stay. “I could have left, but I didn’t leave. I stayed,” she shares. Taking full advantage of LARC’s wrap-around services—which support up to 20 individuals with customized care, counseling, and housing search advocacy—she learned to truly trust and utilize her case manager. By attending every meeting, from Sunday step studies to daily NA and AA, she built an incredible safety net. Today, her village includes a sponsor, a therapist, a spiritual advisor, and a recovery coach. “It was something about this last time. I didn’t want to say I’m coming back. I want to keep going. Because it feels so amazing.”
At Victory Programs, we know that true healing is about restoring connections to the people we love. For Denika, recovery means finally being present. Recently, she was able to attend her daughter’s 39th birthday, proudly bringing balloons and a card with money inside—something she wasn’t able to do before
In January, she reached another beautiful milestone: being present in the delivery room for the birth of her grandchild. Denika notes that a crucial part of her journey is practicing self-care because she wants her “insides to match her outside.”
Now, she is ready to carry that healing forward. Having received a scholarship to Victory Programs’ JP Recovery Center, Denika is currently training to become a recovery coach, with the ultimate goal of returning to school to become a case manager herself. Hoping her story inspires others, she says, “I need to be a powerful example because my granddaughter, I don’t ever want her to see it.”
Before she left, Denika wanted to share a message with anyone reading this who might be facing their own struggles with substance use: “Meeting makers make it. Whatever you feel, find somebody and talk about it. No addict needs to die of active addiction. It’s possible, no matter what your circumstance is. You just have to surrender and keep talking.”
Thanks to you, our supporters, we can continue to provide dignified, welcoming spaces where residents like Denika can find their footing, thrive, and proudly build their future!
No addict needs to die of active addiction. It’s possible, no matter what your circumstance is. You just have to surrender and keep talking.