Lashunda lived at Dallas 24 Hour Club and Tillman House before moving out to get an apartment with her children. She started working at Nexus Recovery Center in April 2021 as a Recovery Advocate.
How did you get started with drugs and alcohol?
I was about 4 or 5 years old when I first got introduced to drugs. My mother had taken me to a place to introduce me to what she said was my uncle. She was getting ready to leave. I thought I was going with her, so I started crying, so she let me puff on her cigarette, which was marijuana. That was when I was first introduced to it. There was another time when we were getting put out of her mother's house and we were walking down the street and it was raining and she let me puff on it then. It was about the same time. I got introduced to alcohol when I was about 9 years old and I was living with my grandmother. On Fridays she would give us a can of beer. My grandmother was a drinker so when she was in her celebration on Fridays she would give us a can of beer.
How did you end up at Dallas 24 Hour Club?
I was sitting at the bus station one day. I didn't have anywhere to go - I was just sitting there - and this guy told me that this bus would take me to a shelter, so I went to Austin Street and spoke to the case manager there. I told him I was tired and I couldn't live like this anymore. He said, if you are serious and willing to take some simple steps that he knew of a place where I could go. He called the Program staff at Dallas 24 Hour Club for me and the next day he loaded me up and I came to The 24.
What is your greatest blessing?
My greatest blessing is honestly my sobriety today. No matter what I go through now, I'm free. I get to live free today. I don't have to obsess over drinking or when I'm going to get high. I'm available for my kids. I have tools that I can use now so if I'm having a bad day, I can still live free.
What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement is getting my children back. My son is 9 years old and my daughter just turned 11 years old.
What is one thing you want us to know?
Dallas 24 Hour Club changed my life completely. The 24 is safe and the program trained me how to live life on life’s terms without the need of drugs and alcohol. It gave me enough time of sobriety under my belt to get me prepared to live on my own if I continued to follow the plan that was laid out before me.
What does recovery mean to you?
Knowing and conceding to my truth and living a life with a power greater than myself. Turning my will over to this power as I understand it on a daily basis so the obsession of self-will can be removed and I can better Thy will.
Finish this sentence, if it wasn't for Dallas 24 Hour Club I would be: Dead.