Maresa Saunder's Story of Recovery
There are many stigmas around those with substance use disorders; stigmas regarding age, race, and occupation. The reality is that addiction can happen to anyone. Such was the case for Maresa Saunders.
In 2003, Maresa was 54 years old with over 30 years of experience as a special education teacher with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and taught in classrooms all over the county.
Maresa was very active in her work, engaging with children of all ages with special needs and was the president of the teacher's union. Around this period, she was starting to face challenges at work; teaching in different areas of special ed and finding the additional responsibilities as the union president to be overwhelming.
To make matters worse, Maresa started to experience health concerns, falling frequently, only to learn she had an Acoustic Neuroma pressing on her brain which was causing her to lose balance.
Maresa had been teaching all her life, and suddenly her world was turning upside down, but she couldn't imagine a life without her students.
She had the Acoustic Neuroma removed, and as she was waking up from anesthesia, unfortunately experienced a stroke. Maresa recalls things going on around her and knowing something was wrong. She couldn't walk, talk, or move; a frightening experience.
With the growing demands of required physical therapy and working to regain her speech and mobility, Maresa made the difficult decision to retire. In retirement, Maresa experienced periods of significant isolation.
During this time, she began to combine prescribed medications with alcohol, and the cycle began.
'The alcohol just consumed my life. I was finding every which way to get it.'
She concealed her substance use patterns from her loved ones, hiding alcohol in the bushes, until she realized she needed to find help. With the support of her husband, Maresa’s recovery began with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). After some time, Maresa recognized a need for more intense treatment and entered the residential program at Greenbriar Treatment Center and transferred to an outpatient program run by Gateway Rehab in Fox Chapel. Following residential treatment, Maresa also, this time with her husband by her side, remained engaged with AA.
'It was a godsend that he did that for me.'
Both Maresa and her husband celebrate similar recovery dates from February 2006.
Maresa’s husband wasn’t the only support she found along her journey. It was in her outpatient program that Maresa found two women who became her best friends; 'The Three Musketeers.' as they lovingly refer to themselves.
After one year, Maresa felt drawn to helping others who are working towards their recovery and received a recommendation from her therapist to volunteer with Gateway.
'That sounded like something I really wanted to do; to give back and let others know that they can get recover too.'
She started out as a volunteer at the Fox Chapel office, and quickly also offered her time with Greenbriar’s outpatient program in Wexford. In 2015, Maresa started attending classes hosted by Ken Montrose, Director of Training and Publications with, at the time, Greenbriar Treatment Center, to keep up with trends surrounding substance use disorder and recovery. What started as a desire to learn was soon recognized by Ken as an opportunity to become a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS). Following Ken’s suggestion, Maresa passed the exam and is still maintaining her certification to this day.
Today, Maresa continues to pay forward her knowledge and time to others as a volunteer in Gateway’s Wexford outpatient program. Maresa also runs a beginner meeting at The Hope House, which is a small house that sits on the campus of St. Alexis. They meet Tuesday and Fridays for AA with nearly 50 people showing up to these meetings.
Since August 2007, Maresa has volunteered 3,500 hours and impacted countless lives working towards sustained recovery.
'I love it, I wouldn't give it away for the world.'
