TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A local woman who went to jail multiple times because of her addiction is now working as a peer support specialist to help others get clean.
Adrianna Swan, 37, has been sober for 15 months and works at New Concepts Behavioral Health Center, helping people battling addiction.
“Me and my mother used to use together. She was my using buddy for years. I had been drinking since I was 10 years old,” Swan said.
Swan said her life spiraled into lies and desperate behavior. She shared a cell phone video she recorded as she tried to lie her way past a security guard at a local apartment complex to buy drugs. The security guard banned her from the property.
“When I was using, I couldn’t put anything into effect. I was horrible. I was a bully. I was mean. I was nasty. I’m completely different,” Swan said.
Swan said she had had enough after losing her three children to the system and nearly dying.
“But when I really wanted it for myself, I cried out to God, ‘Please give me the strength and courage to get up and get out of here.’ He gave it to me. In the last thing that He said to me before I left the house was, ‘If you keep taking me for granted, you’re going die out here,’ and I’ve been sober ever since,” Swan said.
Swan now lives by a personal motto: “Hate the drugs. Hate the addiction, but don’t ever stop praying for the one stuck in it because behind that chaos is a soul that’s hurting, lost and desperate for a way out.”
As a peer support specialist at New Concepts Behavioral Health Center, Swan works with people battling addiction. She is also taking college courses to get a degree in social work.
“I want to help people the way that I got helped. I want to help save people because the lifestyle is very hard, and it will take you out. It will take you out, and people are dying,” Swan said.
Swan credits New Concepts with helping her find herself.
“They saved my life. There are people here who care about you. It’s so personal. It’s personal,” Swan said. “They accommodate you where you’re at and build you up.”
Swan said the supportive environment at the center motivates her to work with others.
“There is a case manager who walks to the hall and always says, ‘Good morning, queen! Hey, sunshine!’ Do you know what I mean, just building each other up. They helped me build me up, so I want to build somebody else up,” Swan said.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-11-04 19:37:00
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