Sam’s face broke into a broad smile when he was asked what Aster House, CHD’s residential recovery home in South Hadley, has done for him.

“Oh, man, the question is, what hasn’t it done for me?” he said. “It has shown me a better way to live and enabled me to enter the real world.”

Like many in recovery, Sam credits his “higher power” for originally leading him to seek help. “I was living up in Vermont for four years, working two different jobs, and all I was doing was working and drinking,” he said. “I was functioning, but it got to the point where I didn’t want to go to work—I wanted to just keep drinking, and I didn’t go to either job for a week.”

The fact that he was born and raised in South Hadley and he ended up in residential recovery in his hometown confirmed his belief that things happen for a reason. “I wanted to go back to Massachusetts and start over,” he said, but it was a rocky road back home. “I went to detox and rehab, but I was kicked out of a halfway house, and I was pretty much homeless,” he said. But he met a person in Alcoholics Anonymous who helped him get housing. Then Sam’s sister, who works for CHD, told him about Aster House, and after a psychiatric evaluation at a hospital, he first stayed at The Retreat at Hampshire Woods, CHD’s short-term respite program adjacent to Aster House. Then he came to the 16-bed Aster House last March.

Sam’s “drug of choice,” as he put it, was undoubtedly alcohol, but he was also addicted to cocaine. “But if it wasn’t for the alcohol, I wouldn’t have gotten into cocaine,” he said. Sam also has several mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. “I have my good days and bad days, just like everyone else—but mainly good days, because of the atmosphere here,” he said.

He likes the fact that some Aster House staff are in recovery as well, including Dan Regan, the program manager. “He is so approachable,” he said. “I can walk into his office any time and tell him what’s going on, and he will suggest things that he would do—or what he has done. That’s extremely helpful, knowing that there are people here that have been in my shoes.”

Sam’s favorite therapy groups are the Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model Group, the morning meetings, and especially the peer-led groups on Tuesdays. “The residents in the peer-led groups are going through the same thing I’m going through, so I’m not the outcast or the exception,” he said. “Like them, I’m just trying to manage my life in the proper way and not screw up.”

He has a message for anyone that is thinking about going into recovery but may be hesitant. “You can try to do it alone, but I highly suggest you don’t. For those who can do it alone—I’ll give them a lot of credit, but I’m not one of those people. Here, you’re not alone. And when you ask for help, life starts getting so much easier.”

Do you know anyone who could benefit from this residential program? For more information on Aster House, click here.