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John had a good home and family life growing up, but when he reached high school, he found drugs and alcohol. Despite the influence of his peers, John applied himself in school and realized that he had a mind for business and a passion for cooking. Through a lot of hard work, he made his dreams come true when he started a successful food cart that grew into a brick-and-mortar business.

Matthew dreamed of becoming an actor. In his early 20s, he was on his way to making that dream a reality as a traveling theater actor. He enjoyed his nomadic lifestyle, securing contracts in new cities across the country, sightseeing, and meeting new people along the way, but craved the stability of a permanent position. Alcohol also played a leading role in this time of his life. As the years passed, Matthew noticed that he increasingly relied on alcohol to comfort his loneliness and anxiety about career prospects.

Growing up, Gerald experienced trauma, instability, and had access to an abundance of alcohol and drugs. At a young age, he felt desperate to be a part of a family and joined a gang. He was active in his gang for over two decades and landed in prison. When he was released, he wanted to stay sober, but didn’t want to go to a ‘facility.’ He fell into old habits – his addiction.

One of the things that make Fora Health an amazing community is people can work here in recovery and help others heal! Around 25 percent of the staff at Fora Health share they are in recovery. One of those people is Steven Milanese.

When Nick came through Fora Health’s doors, he was at his lowest and darkest place. He was isolated, experiencing severe mental health issues and feared that he’d destroyed his career and most of his relationships.

Multnomah County says Fora is one of the many investments that have resulted in over 250 new recovery, stabilization and transitional housing beds in our community.