Living Recovery

How Ashley Brown-Smith ended her uphill battle with addiction

Doug Benecke, Outpatient Counselor,

EvergreenHealth Monroe Recovery Center

Ashley Brown-Smith, EvergreenHealth Monroe Recovery Center patient,

with daughter Journey and son Braden

Ashley Brown-Smith was just 17 years old when she began struggling with substance use and addiction after the death of her father.

What started with alcohol progressed to drugs, and by her 30s, she’d been arrested more than 50 times for crimes to support her drug addiction. At the same time, she’d made repeated attempts to get clean, but each time returned to using.

In December 2019, she was homeless and living without shelter in the woods when something within Brown-Smith changed. “It just felt like the end of the end. I was so done,” she described. Then came another discovery. She learned she was six weeks pregnant. Already a mother of two, she had previously lost custody of her son and daughter and she knew this time needed to be different.

“I was so scared, but I wanted to change so badly. I knew I couldn’t keep doing this and I desperately wanted my baby to be born healthy,” Brown-Smith described.

Within a week, Brown-Smith checked into The Recovery Center at EvergreenHealth Monroe, where one of their specialties is providing treatment for pregnant women with substance use disorders.

Though she’d been to rehab programs before, she felt like The Recovery Center care team understood her like others hadn’t. She could relate on a personal level with her counselors and connect with other patients.

In August 2020, Brown-Smith delivered a healthy baby girl, Journey Rose, and she’s living well from a new apartment that all three of her kids call home.

“I couldn’t be where I am without The Recovery Center,” BrownSmith shared. “I actually feel like I changed; I became a better woman, mother, friend—one step at a time.”

“I felt like I could manage it; like I could start and stop when I wanted. But I just didn’t realize how bad addiction could get,” Brown-Smith shared. “The remarkable thing about Ashley is that she was motivated and took our advice to heart,” said Doug Benecke, Brown-Smith’s outpatient counselor. “There are different pathways to recovery and Ashley has forged her own through community-based support groups, a commitment to herself and self-exploration. We are very proud of her.”