Caught in the opioid crisis for decades, Robert shows how love and withholding judgment can bring hope.
Robert’s path to opioid misuse started like many others. Childhood trauma led him to self-medicate with various substances. Then he was prescribed opioids for medical reasons. “My doctor moved away, and I couldn’t get a new prescription,” he says. “So, I started buying them on the street. That’s when things took a really bad turn.”
It got about as bad as it could. Robert experienced homelessness, incarceration, and near-death experiences. He sold drugs and was part of a gang. If you met him during this time of his life, he says, it would have been easy to assume he was ‘a certain kind of person’—the type that gets themselves mixed up with drugs and crime.
But if you met him today, you’d recognize him as a dedicated worker, a kind person, and a loving father. He says that he’s always been the person he is today, despite the things that got in the way. “I’ve always been a really loving person despite my history and actions,” he says. “I was always a hard worker and could always hold down jobs.”
It was the chemical trap of opioids that had a hold on Robert for over 20 years, not personality or character flaws. Now, he uses his firsthand knowledge and experience in his day-to-day, working in harm reduction and helping form proactive street teams to help others in the same place he’d found himself. He does this by showing love, withholding judgment, and building relationships.
“In order to love people,” explains Robert, “you have to remember that these are not just ‘clients,’ they’re not numbers, they’re not case files. This is somebody’s son or daughter. And lots of times it’s somebody’s mom or dad. People use opioids for all sorts of reasons, and trauma’s a big one.”
Between trauma and routine prescriptions, opioids can find their way into anyone’s world. They are powerful substances that can send life spiraling. People like Robert provide an important link between those who have been there and those who are going through it.
Now that I have the voice and I can use it, it’s about teaching others that their voice matters too, and reminding them that they have the ability to be heard.