The Nexus Alumni program is informally organized to best meet the needs of our graduates with longer lengths of sobriety. Alumni members stay connected to each other and to Nexus through volunteer projects, serving as clients' sponsors and recovery celebrations. There is not a fixed schedule of meetings, rather projects are initiated by Alumni leadership and supported by Nexus staff members as needed.
The Nexus Alumni program is a chance for our graduates to give back to their community and inspire current clients with their success stories.
Connie originally came to Nexus as a client. Now, sixteen years later she is an LCDC, AAC counselor in the Adult Women's Residential Program.
Connie's Story
I came to Nexus right at about 16 years ago. I came from my home state, which is Indiana. I was dying from alcoholism and I knew it. I had some “drinking” friends who lived here and they had been up home and saw how sick I was. They told me that if I really wanted to be sober I could come to Texas and try “it” there. About one month later I called and accepted their offer.
I had lost everything because of my drinking. I had signed my daughter away so the state couldn't take her from me. I had another drunk driving arrest to settle and I was homeless. I was faced with four years of penitentiary time and a $10,000 fine for being a drunk. Above all that, my spirit was dying and I didn't know how to stop it. I figured I would go to Texas and if I didn't make it, then I could just be a “nobody” dead on the street and my family wouldn't have to suffer through the shame of how I died.
I started in the Nexus outpatient/day program at the old Fairmount facility. They immediately invited me into the fold of their love, compassion and hope. It didn't matter that I wasn't a “native.” I couldn't believe they were happy to help me. I did okay until day 28 and then I drank. It was a pretty bad drunk. I ended up in the residential facility and there I learned literally how to live, not again, but for the first time ever.
The counselors at Nexus gave me the education, love, support, patience and the nurturing I needed to be able to live life sober no matter what life tossed in my direction. They told me everything would be okay if I could just follow directions.
The counselors taught me about self-respect, being responsible and not being ashamed of what I had done - not just to myself but to others as well. They had faith in me when I had none in myself. They helped me to bring my daughter from Indiana to Texas and find safe housing for her so I could finish my treatment. They helped me to begin a life I could not have done without them. Mind you, I had no family and only two drinking associates in Texas. The associates had to go so all I really had was Nexus.
Today, I am 16 years sober and my life is so much more than I could have imagined it to be. My daughter is a lovely young woman who is much more than I could have raised her to be without the help Nexus afforded us. We share a belief that we are God's children even in our worst moments. That belief wasn't possible before I came to Nexus.
Now I have a career that is fulfilling and aligned with what I believe God needs me to do. I have been a counselor in Nexus' Adult Women Residential Program for more than five years. I am married to an incredible man and we are a family. I am secure in the person I have become and more than anything I have inner peace. Being an alcoholic is not the worst thing to be. And now, finally, I believe I will not die drunk.
I will always be grateful to Nexus for all they have given to me. Without Nexus I wouldn't be alive today.
Approximately 25% of Nexus staff members are in recovery. Their ability to empathize with clients, share their stories and serve as models contributes to the overall success of our programs.