Christi's Testimony
Posted on Sep 25, 2023 at 15:05 PM
Christi Burdeshaw is a wonderful mother and wife with a successful career as the Peer Mentoring Project Director for Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network. But without her recovery journey, the beautiful life Christi has today may not have been as easily obtained.
Christi describes her childhood as great with two loving parents. For reasons out of her control or understanding, she began experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression when she was a teenager. After high school, she experienced some of life's most difficult challenges including a divorce that led her to be a young single mother. In her twenties, Christi began to self-medicate with various substances in an effort to cope with her hardships.
After receiving charges for crimes she committed while having a substance use disorder, Christi was interviewed by the Muscogee County Adult Drug Court and was accepted into the program. The Drug Court referred her to a 9-month residential treatment program, The Golden Rule. Christi describes her time there as life-changing but was concerned about returning to Columbus after completing the program.
"I felt like a stranger coming back to Columbus," Christi says.
Upon her arrival, the Adult Drug Court connected Christi with New Horizons' housing program. The apartment Christi was placed in was right next to Journey to Recovery, a New Horizons residential treatment program. Christi began attending meetings with the individuals in the Journey to Recovery program while also attending Midtown Recovey's after-treatment care. Through all of that, she found the supportive community she was looking for.
"I linked in all the way," Christi says about spending time with the programs offered at New Horizons.
During her time at our housing program, Christi got a job, made new friends, and met her current husband, John Burdeshaw, who was going through the Journey to Recovery program himself at the time. John is now one of our staff members at Connections and was the very first person to be featured in our #TestiomonialTuesday initiative.
Today, Christi is a Certified Peer Specialist who shares her lived experiences to help others start their own recovery journey. Christi and John are very involved with their church, love spending time with their children, and have a passion for giving back to their community. They are a power couple in the recovery community who New Horizons is so grateful to know.
To learn more about Connections, Midtown Recovery, Journey to Recovery, or any of our housing programs, call us at 706-596-5500.
If you or someone you know has a recovery story of your own you'd like to share, send us a direct message anytime.
- Categories:
- General