Amberlee's Story of Possibility

Amberlee was just 17 when her story of addiction began.
Enduring verbal, mental, and physical abuse from her then-boyfriend led to her looking for a way to escape. “He was so mean and nasty and he made me insecure and fearful. I wanted to feel any way but that way, so I started taking his mom’s pain medication so that I could feel better.” Prescription pills became a way to cope for Amberlee, something that could make her feel better in the wake of such traumatic experiences.

Going into recovery not only meant reflecting on past experiences but also the current environment she existed in.
From losing her children to seeing friends pass away, being stripped of everything was the hardest thing to overcome. To get through the especially tough days, she was, and still is, held together by her faith and trust in God.

 
Joining Unshattered was a fairly simple decision for Amberlee.
Having the ability to work in retail again proved to be life-changing. With charges pressed against her for shoplifting, Amberlee’s long history of fulfilling work in retail seemed like it was at its end. But, working at Unshattered has empowered her to get back to what she loves and learn new skills along the way. Those skills don’t just include designing, though. Being at Unshattered has also helped Amberlee work on interpersonal skills and how to be patient with both herself and others.

Through her recovery, Amberlee has focused on maintaining her own sobriety as well as preventing others from making choices that could have negative consequences; “I’m striving to be able to help other people not do the things that we did”.