FLORENCE, Ky. - Jena Powers credits the Brighton Recovery Center for Women in Boone County with saving her life.

Powers said she started taking pain medication for scoliosis and work-related injuries. However, when her doctor lost their license, Powers turned to the streets. She said it was the most convenient option at the time, but it also led to other drug use.

“I went from being a stay-at-home mom of three kids to getting in trouble with the law, losing custody of my kids. I was in and out of jails,” Powers told Spectrum News 1.

Powers said she was arrested for overdosing behind-the-wheel in early 2018. It was also a turning point.

“I was at the point where it was either go back in the madness and die or I was going to get the help I needed,” Powers said.

Powers said when the Department of Corrections suggested she go to Brighton Recovery Center, she did in June 2018. Initially, she was scared, not sure if she would make it through the program, a long-term, holistic approach to recovery, according to Brighton’s website.

“So for the first I was introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, and I started working the steps. I started reaching out to my family. I started seeing my kids again,” Powers explained.

The staff also saw skills in Powers, such as leadership, that Powers said she didn’t see in herself. So she became a peer mentor.

“These people become your sisters. They become your best friends,” Powers said. “And to be here, to help them get through this program to keep them growing, that’s what kept me sober. That’s what helps in my recovery process.”

After approximately 14 months at Brighton, Powers left at the end of July 2019. Today, she is the house manager at a sober living home, and she also works full-time for a cleaning company.

Powers also continues to see her three children, and she also reconnected with her parents while in recovery. All of them recently went to Michigan for vacation.