​We are pleased to announce that in honor of National Recovery Month, Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Coalition sponsored a special professional development training at Coginchaug Regional High School featuring Stephen Hill, a renowned national speaker on substance use prevention and mental health awareness with a truly inspiring comeback story that everyone must hear. Stephen is the founder of Speak Sobriety, a young person in recovery, bestselling author, criminal defense attorney, recovery coach, and fierce advocate for change. He has been featured in The Journal News, on WCBS News Radio 880 and several other shows for his expertise in substance use prevention, treatment, recovery and criminal justice. He has presented in front of thousands of people for over 300 schools, drug free community coalitions, alliances, and organizations across the country, sharing his cautionary tale of addiction to recovery and beyond, leaving people better educated, feeling hopeful, and motivated to make smart choices and positive change. But before Stephen had these accolades attached to his name, his reputation was filled with negative stigmas—junky, dropout, felon, failure. A once promising student-athlete barely graduated high school, dropped out of numerous colleges, was arrested several times, misused deadly amounts of opioids for nearly a decade, was in and out of countless treatment programs, and lost his friends and family. Towards the end, it seemed like there was no hope for Stephen. On September 30, 2012, when he entered an extended care treatment program, Stephen began his journey to recovery. After 180 days in treatment when Stephen was able to start thinking clearly, he made a choice to give himself a real second chance at life. Through inner strength, patience, hard work, and support from others, Stephen turned his mess into a message by using both his positive and negative life experiences to live out a meaningful life with passion. Today, Stephen teaches people to be resilient by not only maximizing their strengths, but also taking what most people perceive as a weakness or negative experience and turning it into a life lesson for personal growth. This shift in thinking is how Stephen was able to overcome a severe substance use disorder, work in the field of addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, start his own speaking and coaching company, receive his bachelor’s with honors from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, earn his juris doctorate from Brooklyn Law School, get admitted to practice law as an attorney in New York, publish his memoir A Journey to Recovery which was a #1 New Release in Drug Dependency on Amazon, and live a happy and healthy lifestyle with his friends and family. Some of the personal experiences that Stephen shares are difficult for him to talk about, but he knows it’s worth it if his story helps just one person every time he speaks.