IT’S NOT GENETIC –

June 28, 2023 – She explained that she and her older brother had lived with their parents when she was a baby, but eventually, her parents got divorced. Following the divorce, both she and her brother were put under the care of their father although he wasn’t fit to care for them, or himself. Eventually, her grandparents took them in and ended up raising them as their primary guardians. “Growing up I had to witness and deal with the aftermath of addiction from my parents, my aunts, my uncles, and my community.”

Even though her grandparents were stable and the best option for Courtney, she was still exposed to substance abuse because of her grandparents’ children who would come around. “I didn’t want to fall into the same cycle of addiction and poverty as my parents, so I took advantage of everything I could and was determined to succeed,” Courtney said, adding that it was hard due to the lack of funding in schools in her area. 

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