An AADAP Success Story: Robert Trevino

Those who know Robert personally would describe him as an upbeat and hardworking guy. Someone who’s always got your back. Someone who’s passionate and incredibly caring. Robert is truly the personification of the lyrical phrase “started from the bottom, now we’re here”.

Introduced to drugs as a high-school student, Robert became a full-fledged addict at 20. He got caught and arrested and cycled through the system regularly. He was on his way to jail yet again when the judge made him face his pleading mother and weeping brother. Robert needed to get clean for his family’s sake.

With orders to check into a recovery program, he was referred to AADAP. The counselor told him that he needed to call every day for a week. He did so, each passing day with increasing frustration. The following week, he was rewarded a spot at AADAP’s Therapeutic Community (TC), and officially entered the program on June 9, 2003.

At the TC, he found people who honestly cared about him. He was given a space to work through all the issues tied so deeply to his addiction. He recalls that the most impactful aspect of being in the program was seeing how accomplished the TC staff were, for they had gone through the program themselves. He saw them as the leaders they had worked hard to become, and strived to claim that success for himself.

Robert graduated from the TC in 2005, and since then, he has gone on to work for the Dept. of Parks & Recreation, All People’s Community Center, and Carnival Cruises. Today he works at AADAP as a counselor in the Youth and Family Programs as a means of giving back. AADAP changed his life, and he says he will always be grateful for it. 

During this season of giving, we hope that you will consider donating to AADAP to help individuals like Robert and the thousands of others that AADAP serves.