She received help after being referred to Kildare Town\u2019s DARA Project for treatment and has never looked back since.<\/p>\n
As a child, she described herself as outgoing but also deeply shy and anxious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always felt really conflicted in that. I loved the academic side of school, but I never felt like I belonged in any friend group.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 12, Emma first discovered alcohol. It gave her a way into social circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had a can in your hand, you were part of the group,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
What began as a way of overcoming her social anxiety quickly escalated.<\/p>\n
By 14, she had started taking drugs and, by 16, she was using them every day.<\/p>\n
Her teenage years became increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n
Drugs and alcohol became central to her life, while the friendships surrounding it increasingly became her support system.<\/p>\n
As she reached her late teens, Emma had become involved in criminal activity, lost relationships with members of her family and experienced periods of homelessness.<\/p>\n
She spent time sleeping on friends\u2019 couches in Portlaoise and Dublin and sometimes sleeping rough when she had nowhere else to turn.<\/p>\n
Speaking about her experience, she said: \u201cAt that time, I was taking street tablets. I would literally take drugs to black out. I have little bits of memory of really bad situations, but the in-between parts are kind of still fairly foggy to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emma had tried to get sober before. She f<\/p>\n
irst attended meetings at 16 and went to treatment for the first time at 17. In total, she has attended five treatment centres.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was going to be an addict forever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
During her last relapse, the reality of her addiction became impossible to ignore and she decided to call her mother and asked for one more chance.<\/p>\n
Her mother had seen the DARA Project on Facebook and suggested that Emma give it a try.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually I’d be fighting against it, but I was like, \u2018yeah, let’s go tomorrow\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That was the end of May 2025, and she hasn\u2019t looked back since.<\/p>\n
Previous treatment had provided a temporary respite, but she would then return to the same community, the same triggers and the same problems. At the DARA Project, she could work on those challenges while still living in the community.<\/p>\n
The project also gave Emma something she had struggled to develop during years of addiction: the opportunity to discover who she was without drugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came into recovery, I literally only spoke in street language,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t know how to socialise with people sober. I didn’t know what I liked.\u201d She has also had to leave behind friendships that were once central to her life. That was one of the hardest parts of recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a real false sense of responsibility to a lot of them,\u201d she said. \u201cI kind of had to grieve that part of my life in a way. It was all I knew for so long.\u201d Today, Emma has built new friendships within the recovery community. She describes the DARA Project as being like another family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was afraid I was never going to have friends again or never going to laugh again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jake Kemmy, 31, is another who started the road to recovery at the DARA Project. For him, it began with a moment of feeling completely lost and looking for somewhere else to turn.<\/p>\n
Originally from Newbridge, Jake first encountered addiction as a child growing up with his mother who struggled with alcoholism.<\/p>\n
One of six, Jake and his siblings moved between his mother, father and grandmother and spent time in foster care.<\/p>\n
Jake would later develop an addiction of his own, using weed, cocaine and street tablets, including Xanax.<\/p>\n
Anxiety and fear had been a constant presence in his life and he initially used drugs to cope with those feelings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe street Xanax was probably the worst one of the three because I was so anxious,\u201d he said. \u201cI was so full of fear all the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the end of 2024, Jake was homeless after being kicked out of his mother’s home.<\/p>\n
He moved to Athy and spent a year living there, including time in a hostel. It was there that someone suggested he visit the DARA Project.<\/p>\n
At the time, Jake said he was feeling lost: \u201cI was walking around Athy with nothing to do and, no; I was just lost. I didn\u2019t really have any purpose or direction to go in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hadn’t even fully recognised himself as an addict at this point, but after joining the project and listening to other people talk about their experiences, something began to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got in there and heard everybody talking and sharing and I learned a bit more about addiction, I think that\u2019s when I properly realised that I was actually an addict.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Jake, the biggest challenge in recovery was his anxiety. Sitting in groups and talking openly about his feelings was extremely uncomfortable. It took him a month or two to settle in and feel like he belonged.<\/p>\n
![\"Jake](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5235358_7_articleinlinemobile_Jake_2bKemmy_2bThe_2bDara_2bProject_2b1.jpg\" "\\"Jake")
Jake Kemmy.<\/p>\n
At first, he would struggle to speak in front of the group and would sometimes leave the room to calm himself down.<\/p>\n
Today, he still experiences anxiety, but he has learned that he can cope with it.<\/p>\n
Jake credits the DARA Project with playing a central role in his recovery. He has built a new life around the project, recovery meetings and a new social circle.<\/p>\n
Moving away from Newbridge meant leaving behind his old life and friendships, but in Athy he has made new friends with people who understand what he is going through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not just about obviously going to the meetings and going to the projects,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s after that as well \u2014 spending time with the right people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey understand. If something is on my mind or I’m struggling with something, they’re there for me as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The DARA Project has provided both Emma and Jake with more than a place to attend meetings.<\/p>\n
The project offers a structured week which can include group therapy, relapse prevention, education, courses and recreational activities.<\/p>\n
The project has also given Jake opportunities to study. He told the Laois Nationalist that he has recently completed a level 5 course in community addiction studies, funded through the project, and hopes to continue his education.<\/p>\n
He is now looking towards a level 7 qualification in community addiction studies and a group facilitation course, with the long-term goal of working in addiction services himself.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\n I want to help people that were in the same position that I was in.\n <\/p>\n
Both Jake and Emma describe recovery as a process of rebuilding, not simply stopping drinking or taking drugs but learning how to live differently.<\/p>\n
For Emma, that has meant rebuilding relationships with her family and finding purpose again.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, today, to be able to wake up clean and sober, to have a relationship with my family, to have made friends, that is probably the biggest achievement I’m ever going to make in my life,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I have purpose again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year earlier, she had resigned herself to the idea that she would be an addict forever. Today, she is thinking about work, having a family and owning her own home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things actually feel possible now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Jake, being asked to share his story has made him feel proud. His hope is that people who don’t know about recovery services will learn that help exists.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, he wants people struggling with addiction to know that they are not beyond help.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t give up on yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cRecovery is possible for everybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emma shared a similar message that everyone deserves to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody deserves to live the way you live in addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cGive yourself one more chance.\u201d<\/p>\n