My first trip through Bridge House was in 2012. I stayed 4 months and left early. I was really not ready at that time, but a seed had been planted. I returned in 2017 with a new outlook and Bridge House welcomed me back. I ended up graduating in 2018 and was offered a job as Assistant Manager of our Airline Thrift Store. Eventually, an opening became available for Store Manager at the Earhart Thrift Store, and I have been...

In February of 1992 I was sitting in the psych unit at Tulane Hospital. I was on the waitlist for a bed at a place called Bridge House. I had never heard of it, but my alcoholism had brought me to that point of total despair and few resources. My psychiatrist said Bridge House was where I belonged and thank God, I listened to him. He managed to keep me in an indigent bed at Tulane until I was admitted...

I began drinking and experimenting with drugs at 14 years old. Drinking alcohol was a normal part of life in my working-class neighborhood. I would even say it was a rite of passage for a teenager in the 1970's. I never felt like I fit in, even in my own family. I was depressed often but not diagnosed until years later. With certainty, I did know that getting drunk and high made me feel carefree and allowed me to escape...

My name is Joran Smith and my clean date is September 11, 2002. I entered Bridge House / Grace House and recovery on September 13, 2002. The reason I give these dates is because of the choices and decisions in between. On September 11, I walked into Bridge House / Grace House only to be told there were no beds available. This was my 1st choice and decision. Do I go back to where I came from and back to...

I've been clean and sober for 9.5 years but when I hear about how stong heroin is when laced with fentanyl, my initial thought is still, man I wish I could have tried that. Even though I know it is killing people and has killed or almost killed so many people that I know. This is a powerful drug and an even more powerful disease we are battling. I didn't start out using heroin, not many people do. I started...

I am a five-time client of Bridge House. I first came to Bridge House in 2014. I left without completing the program and came back four other time. The beautiful thing is they kept taking me back. I was in Bridge House a total of 19 months out of 24; and I needed every bit of it. I am an alcoholic and drug addict. Alcohol, crack-cocaine, meth or anything else I could get my hands on for a couple decades...