Recovery Hero: Betty Toppin

My name is Betty Toppin, and I have been in recovery since March 27th, 2019. Prior to recovery, I was in active addiction for most of my life. I finally hit rock bottom in 2017 when I became homeless and lost custody of my daughter. I was basically wandering aimlessly for a year and a half, sleeping wherever I could or sometimes not at all, with no purpose driving me other than the cause of my next high. I saw no way out, and at the time, I could have never even imagined that there was an entire community based around recovery and that there were people like me who had done what I had and then managed to turn their hopelessness into something of much greater value.

A message of hope for people who otherwise might not have known it. My biggest accomplishment at this time is regaining custody of my daughter Liyana, which took an entire year of jumping through hoops for DHS but was completely worth it. Today in my life, I have been blessed with the ability to help others like me live free of addiction. I work as an outreach worker for Oxford House, and I volunteer with Springs Recovery Connection. Assisting in reaching out to help others is a part of my personal recovery, and I am truly grateful for it.