TOO MUCH PAINFUL LOSS

We can’t remind you of this sad fact often enough: Six Kentuckians die every day from addiction.

Many of you have felt the pain of losing a loved one. For friends, neighbors, co-workers, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children – especially the children, life is never the same, that pain never goes away.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Ashley Miller 2014 Graduate of Lifeline

I understand this pain deeply and very personally. When I entered Lifeline in 2013, I had already lost my father to an overdose. After I completed the program, my own family was still in active addiction. I wanted to show them there was hope, that I finally found a way out. I wanted them to find the same freedom I had found. But that’s not how my story played out.

Ashley Miller(left)with her two nieces and her father and sister who have died from addiction.

Instead, I found sobriety, but lost, in this order, my brother-in-law, my mom, my only sister, and just last year, my stepson — all due to drug and alcohol related issues.

This program has given me much more than just sobriety. It has given me the strength, faith, determination and passion to keep going, to keep fighting for those who need our help, to show up for them and never give up.

On my journey from addict to Executive Director, I am forever grateful for the miracle in my life and the miracles that keep happening every year at Lifeline. In Lifeline's 20 years, some 2,500 people have experienced my same story, finding hope and healing and a new life free from addiction. More lives need saving, and more families need restoring.

That’s why we’ve announced plans for a new women’s campus (see story on pages 6-7). We will break ground November 11 on the 45-acre campus near Barkley Regional Airport. It will bring hope to twice as many women, a hope shared by our community as evident in the rapid fundraising results of $11.6 million toward a $13 million goal.

Being able to serve more women brings me great joy, thinking of Lifeline’s positive impact on so many lives, including mine. This new campus breathes new life into our mission!

It’s been very encouraging to meet many of you who have stepped up to help us in this effort Thanks to you, we are one day closer to seeing the new campus come to life.

Ashley Miller, Executive Director