A Letter from Bridgette

Date: September 2nd, 2018



In 2016 I was hired at the 12-24 club, five days after I had been released from incarceration.  I had not worked for two years prior.  I was given a chance when I felt hopeless and lost.  This chance blossomed into much more for me.  I was treated with kindness, love, and respect by all I had encountered.  This was new to me because in my life I was taken into the miserable, dark, depths that active addiction swallows one into in mind, body, and soul.  After some time, I had realized I had friends that cared about me just to care about me, no motives attached.  I shared laughs for the first time in such a long time.  A door had opened inside me.  The door was to be valued.  I was valued as a hard-working employee, coworker, friend, and much more; as a human being.  I became part of something much bigger than myself; a connection.  The first time I had felt I was exactly where I was supposed to be; at the club.  That sense of purpose I had lost many years ago.  The happiness and love that the customers and fellow staff had radiated into me.  I do not believe I would be the person I am today if I had not had the 12-24 club in my life.  It was my safe place, my sanctuary when I felt I had nowhere to turn and still is to this day.
-Bridgette

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