When Danielle Stanford first encountered La Clinica Wellness Coach Luis Figueroa, she was fresh out of treatment for addiction to alcohol, methamphetamine, and heroin—and she’d just learned she had hepatitis C, a disease likely to kill her if left untreated.
“I was a pain,” she said. “I was a horrible patient, and he stuck with it. It was early in my recovery, and I didn’t have the ability to be self-reflective. He was so kind.”
The 42-year-old Medford woman is among thousands of patients every year who are helped through La Clinica’s integrated behavioral health program. Some require care for serious mental illnesses. Others, like Stanford, simply need persistence and consistent support to make the changes that will lead them back to health. La Clinica has launched a $3 million Caring for our Community campaign this year to pay for growth in these services and several others.
Today, Stanford remains free of the drugs that took over her life for a decade, has recovered fully from hepatitis, and has renewed oral health thanks to the efforts of a La Clinica dentist. She works as a peer support specialist for local recovery service OnTrack Rogue Valley. It is a role that has her embedded at La Clinica’s Birch Grove Health Center, helping people struggling in the same way she once was.
She also volunteers for help groups Compassion Highway Project and Recovery Cafe.
“I share my experience, strength, and hope,” she said. “Nobody ever has to use again. I know my story can help somebody else.”