The progression of her addiction started our slow. She took her first drink in 2007 right after graduating high school. “In my college years, my drinking and smoking weed picked up quite a bit. Partying on the weekends became an everyday occurrence. I loved going out and being the life of the party. Every day there was a reason to do it…I was addicted to the lifestyle just as much as the substances.”

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As this lifestyle continued, so did her challenges. In 2012, her brother Brian passed away from an overdose. Meredith tried to stop her destructive path, but she was unable to do so. “Trying to remain clean and sober without any help and off sheer willpower did not last long. When I picked up again, my using progressed,” she said of this time. However, when she discovered she was pregnant, she remained sober throughout that time and while she nursed her son.

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She fell back into the familiar routine of going out and drinking when her son was finished breastfeeding. This led her to experimenting with other substances, which in turn, caused more problems. “I would come home late at night drunk, and be a hung over mother during the day; really only half present, going through the motions,” she said. She was in and out of toxic relationships, which only fueled her addiction. She got a DUI in 2015 and though she said she is “grateful” for it, she did not stop her dangerous partying habits. The relationship with her family was tense; her parents warned her at an early age that addiction ran in the family and they tried to talk about it with her as her addiction increased. She did not associate much with her sister – who maintained a healthy lifestyle while she struggled – and she watched both of her brothers battle the same problems she had, though she believed that she “could handle it better” since she was using different substances than they did. She could not keep a job for more than a month due to poor attendance and performance. She was homeless, carless, jobless, and friendless. She was often physically ill, spiritually bankrupt, and just “despised” the person she had become.

It was during these random bouts of reflection, remorse, shame, depression, and guilt that Meredith realized she needed help. In the fall of 2018, she tried to stay clean on her own but only made it one day so she called her father to admit that she needed to go to rehab. She began an Intensive Outpatient Treatment program at the Harford County Health Department until a bed in a treatment center was available for her.

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She discovered Daughter’s House during this time and was adamant she try it out. “I believe my Higher Power planted that seed for me,” she said. But she was unsure of what to expect of herself and of others when she arrived in the fall of 2018: “could I stay clean in the town I partied in?” she often wondered. The women in the house immediately began teaching her how to live a better life. She quickly formed a network of support that was filled with like-minded people who just wanted to get better. She completed her Intensive Outpatient treatment plan at the Harford County Health Department, attended 90 support meetings in 90 days, participated in recovery events, found a sponsor, secured a job, and began working on the much needed steps to maintain sobriety. It wasn’t easy and she really missed her son, but she knew she “needed to become a better me so that I could be a better mother for him.”