{"id":134793,"date":"2026-03-10T20:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134793\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:41:08","slug":"one-pennsylvanians-path-to-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134793\/","title":{"rendered":"One Pennsylvanian\u2019s path to recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a> This is the first installment in a series about Pennsylvanians in recovery from substance use disorder and how stigma affected their recovery. The series is a collaboration between Public Good News, Centro Integral de la Mujer Madre Tierra, and Life Unites Us. If you\u2019d like to share your story, contact us at Info@PublicGoodNews.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s note: The contents of this interview have been edited for length and clarity. This interview was originally conducted in Spanish.]<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Lugo, 61<\/p>\n

Outreach coordinator and recovery coach at Recovery Coaching Services<\/a>
Reading, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

I started using drugs when I was in Puerto Rico, as a young man. For me, drugs were like a \u201cpassage to manhood.\u201d I was about 16 or 17 years old. I started with marijuana, then cocaine, and later heroin. When I started using heroin, that\u2019s when the consequences began. The conflict started\u2014arguments with my family.<\/p>\n

When I was 18, my mom told me to come to the United States because I\u2019d be better off here. My dad sent me with my brother from Ponce, Puerto Rico, where I\u2019m from, to Camden, New Jersey, so I could get better. But as the saying goes, I went \u201cfrom bad to worse.\u201d My dad was a police officer, my mom worked, so I came from a family with good values. But I started hanging out with people from the neighborhood and wanted to prove I was a man.<\/p>\n

My ex-wife was living with me, and from there I went to Philadelphia. I got arrested there, got out and tried going to rehab programs, but I didn\u2019t like them. First of all, they didn\u2019t speak my language, so it wasn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n

Stigma kept me from accepting help from a lot of people. Stigma is the nicknames people give you: \u201cLook, he\u2019s a junkie,\u201d \u201che\u2019s an addict,\u201d \u201che\u2019s crazy,\u201d \u201che\u2019s a criminal,\u201d \u201che\u2019s a thief.\u201d You hear those names so many times that your self-esteem starts to believe them\u2014\u201cWell, I guess I must be a thief. I must be a junkie.\u201d<\/p>\n

All those labels\u2014that\u2019s stigma. It lowers people\u2019s self-esteem. What person feels proud to be called a \u201cjunkie\u201d? I felt ashamed, and that same mindset, those same words, kept me stuck in addiction. Because even when I went to jail, even when I went to groups, they said the same things.<\/p>\n

I was able to analyze who I am and the person I become when I use\u2014they are two different people, and that helped my self-esteem a lot. So who am I? I\u2019m a father, a son, I\u2019m honest, I have integrity.<\/p>\n

But who do I become? Who am I and who is the person I turn into when I use drugs? Because no one ever told me, \u201cJos\u00e9, I love the person you become when you use.\u201d All my loved ones, my whole family, would say, \u201cJos\u00e9, what are you doing? You have so many opportunities in your life.\u201d Everyone believed in that\u2014except me.<\/p>\n

But when I started thinking, \u201cWait a minute, I don\u2019t need drugs. I\u2019m calmer, funnier, I look better, younger when I\u2019m not using.\u201d When I realized that, I said, \u201cWait\u201d\u2014that\u2019s when I started being more authentic, more honest with myself, and building good relationships with other people.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very hard to carry all those labels and still feel good about yourself. When I started to heal those labels and take them off\u2014I took them off. I no longer identify as an addict. Words are like a double-edged sword. They can help you, but they can also cut you. The biggest battle I had wasn\u2019t with other people\u2014it was in my mind.<\/p>\n

You start believing what people tell you: \u201cJos\u00e9, they\u2019re not going to give you a job. Man, you\u2019re going in and out of prison\u2014who do you think you are?\u201d So I started challenging those false beliefs.<\/p>\n

Do you know what I did? I said, \u201cI\u2019m going to work at the hospital\u2026 What can they tell me? No.\u201d The first job they gave me\u2014do you know where it was? At the hospital. And then I was in college. When I started changing the conversation, changing those labels, that\u2019s when I started living my life.<\/p>\n

In 1999, I came to Reading to a halfway house, and I met my now wife. I had not been using for a little while, then I resumed substance use\u2026 and now I\u2019ve been sober for 11 years.<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, I was scared because I was already 50 years old and had nothing. I got scared and said, \u201cWow, I haven\u2019t paid into Social Security, I don\u2019t have a house, I don\u2019t have a car, I don\u2019t even have a license.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I went back to college and got my bachelor\u2019s degree. I got my life on track and started helping others. I began working at Recovery Coaching Services<\/a>, providing peer support. I worked there and eventually became president and CEO of the company. Last year I said, \u201cThat\u2019s enough\u201d\u2014and now I\u2019m doing community outreach and talking to young people.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, they made a mural in my honor\u2014the whole community that supported me. Because when someone recovers, they don\u2019t recover alone. Many people helped me, and I had to accept that help.<\/p>\n

For the mural, they asked me, \u201cWhat helped you in your recovery?\u201d And I said, \u201cMy family.\u201d Despite everything, my family never abandoned me. They always saw something in me that I didn\u2019t see in myself\u2014and that happens to all of us.<\/p>\n

When I was growing up in Puerto Rico, before I started using drugs, it was a beautiful community. My family was the whole neighborhood. Those memories\u2014my dad carving the turkey, me with my mare\u2014I had a little horse and even put a cap on it. The simplicity and humility of my Puerto Rico is something I never lost, and it helped me in my recovery.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m truly living a good life, and what I love most is that I\u2019m contributing to my community.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m with my family. I\u2019m present at work serving others. I love to cook\u2014last night I made some white rice, salmon, shrimp, and avocado. I have my car, my house, my job, my family, my health\u2014all the things I value.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t start using drugs with the intention of becoming addicted or losing everything.<\/p>\n

But it turned into an addiction that hijacks your brain. I thank God that I can\u2019t change what happened, but I can change what happens from now on. I don\u2019t identify with that person, because that person isn\u2019t me. I thank God that I don\u2019t live that way anymore.<\/p>\n

Like everything in life, you have to maintain it\u2014and the way I maintain it is by serving others.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for substance use disorder or mental health help in Pennsylvania, find a list of resources here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Public Good News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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