NAPLES, Fla. — It has been eight years since Brittany Hargrove's life was consumed by her addiction to Heroin.
Back then, her battle with drugs would land her in jail and eventually at the front gate of St. Matthew's House in Naples.
Alone and afraid of falling back into a vicious drug cycle, she enrolled in their one-year drug addiction program.
After graduating, Hargrove started guiding other people to recovery.
“At this point in my life, it was still kind of...I'm still trying to figure it out. I am not sure what to tell you, I’ll share with you what I have experienced. So as that happened more and more women actually started to share with me that I was having an impact on their life. I began to step back and reevaluate, what were my plans for myself,” she said.
Hargrove says her ability to help others comes from having walked in their shoes.
Since the start of the pandemic, Hargrove says many addicts believe their addiction goes unnoticed because of the current state of the nation.
“And so that kept people isolated, it kept people alone in addiction. Also, something called a reservation, in the recovery field, is one thing you can keep as a reservation in your back pocket. Oh the world is kind of falling apart, everybody is in chaos, nobody is even going to notice, I'm just going to stay where I am at,” said Hargrove.
A feeling Hargrove consistently works to destroy.
"There is going to be blessing and reward at the end of that commitment. I am also reminded of one of my favorite scriptures which actually talks about, as far as the east is from the west, so so shall your transgressions be removed from you. and that is such a beautiful picture for me because I did not like who I was, I did not like what my life represented, the behaviors I was exhibiting,” said Hargrove.
Today she continues to help others face those challenges and is also the director of St. Matthew's Homeless Shelter.
At times Hargrove says it is hard to believe how far she has come but she shares those experiences with people who may still be taking those first steps.
If you would like to connect with St. Matthew's House, click here.
