OPEN TO MIRACLES –
Jan. 29, 2022 – Ish Shuey is a certified recovery mentor with Transformations Wellness Center, a nonprofit substance use disorder treatment center in Klamath Falls. Her job is to provide personal support to those struggling with addiction by acting as one-on-one support for people who are working to get clean and sober.
Shuey is not just some clinician in a white coat who studies addicts and addiction for a living — she has lived through many of the same experiences as those she helps. Her job is to use those experiences to guide people to a better place, both by being part of their support system and an inspiration. Shuey has been clean and sober for about two and a half years. At one point, child welfare took her young daughter from her because she was unable to care for her.
“Towards the end, right before I got clean, I was in and out of jail. I was homeless. I had all of my stuff in a backpack going from trap house to trap house,” she said. “I knew I wanted treatment, I knew I wanted to get better, I was just stuck out there in my addiction.”
The last time she got arrested, something changed. She decided to leave her old life behind. There was more to life than her addiction, and it was up to her to find out what that was.
