My name is Keldy. I work in the mental health field; I am the residential director of a Substance Use Disorder treatment program for adolescent boys. With assistance of a clinical team, I have designed and implemented a program for SUD Recovery directed for youth who struggle with processing disorders such as ASD, ADD/ADHD, and other co-occurring mental health struggles. I spend time with these boys daily, assisting and coaching in DBT skills, social skills, and processing with them to help them express themselves in a productive way. I also review their SUD work with them, and assist them on their paths of sobriety and harm reduction. I host different groups throughout the week where I teach them about healthy relationships, holding boundaries, healthy expression of emotion, as well as SUD specific groups regarding the skills necessary to maintain a life of sobriety. These young men are my students, but they are so much more than that. I am a coach when they express passion and desire for athletics; I am there cheering for them in their basketball games, and I'm belaying them at the climbing gym, and I show them how to set up the tent and start the fire when we go camping. I am a parent when we cook and eat meals together; I invest in their ability to master daily "life skills" by coaching them in various cleaning and maintenance tasks that young men sometimes need coaching in, I am a friend when I take them on recreational activities to explore their interests and passions; whether it be the museum, the art gallery, the new movie that just hit theaters, or a walk up in the canyon so they can see a cool new view from my favorite hammocking spot. More than anything else, I am a care giver; I spend time with them when they feel alone or misunderstood, and I offer them all the understanding and empathy I have to give. I was once young and in a SUD treatment program, too. I am a recovered addict with ten years of clean time. The students I work with recognize that my experience is valuable to their own. They recognize that the long hours I work are in support of them, because I believe in them. I can recognize that my experience as a recovered addict offers insight to them as they wrestle with what recovery will look like in their own lives. I am returning to school because I have seen all the efforts of these young men I work with and their willingness to rise to the call of action to regain control in their lives by working with me and the coaching I provide. I can do more for them. I am pursuing to become licensed as a SUDC, so that I may work with these boys in a clinical capacity. While I attend school to become licensed as a SUDC, I will remain employed in my position as the director of the program I have helped build and run. Day after day, hour after hour, I will continue to show up for these young men that desperately need someone who believes in them. Because I have saved myself from the terrors of Substance Use Disorder, I can give to these young men what I have learned and help them grow and overcome their own struggles. I have seen the program I work in change lives and save lives. I will see it change lives and save lives again many times as I continue my work.