Karol S - Participant Review Outreach 419 Day

Finding Family Again – Karol’s Story at Outreach 419"

When Karol first came to Outreach 419, she had lost her family and was searching for something most of us long for—real connection, real community, real hope. In this heartfelt conversation, she shares how stepping into Outreach 419 helped her heal, build relationships, and find a new sense of belonging without the shame or stigma of her past.

Karol talks about how the food and fun drew her in—but the compassion, acceptance, and genuine friendships are what made her stay. She opens up about learning to feel her feelings, getting real with herself, and finding freedom through vulnerability and support.

If you’ve ever felt alone in your recovery or just wished for a place where you could show up and be seen for who you really are, Karol’s story will hit home. 💬

👇 If her story encourages you, drop a comment or share it with someone who needs to hear it. You never know who might need the reminder that they’re not alone.

 

#Outreach419, #SoberNotBoring, #KarolsStory, #RecoveryCommunity, #HealingInCommunity, #RealRecoveryStories, #YouAreNotAlone, #FaithAndRecovery, #FamilyInRecovery, #HopeDealer, #RecoveryJourney, #StrengthInSharing

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Karol, thank you for being here today.
What is one thing that you loveabout Outreach 419 or Sober Events?
Well, the thing that comes to mindfirst is it's a caring community
and we all have gone through similarexperiences in our human journey.
And, of course fun food and fellowship.
We like the food and thefellowship part here.

(00:21):
We love that.
Number two, how has being a partof this community helped your
recovery or your healing journey?
Well, it's a place to go and whenI've been, just by myself without my
family, There's people to talk withand share, that understand what each

(00:42):
of us have gone through and have gonefurther down the path than we have.
And, there's compassion shown and,compassion and love, which means a lot.
Sometimes just meeting peoplewhere they're at, right?
Yeah.
Perfectly said.
Yeah.
Number three, what would you tellsomebody that is thinking about coming

(01:03):
to Outreach 419 for the first time.
Somebody just brand new.
What would you say to that person?
Well, if you like wonderful foodand just being around other people,
Friday nights are wonderful.
There's, just an open eating time,plenty of food, talking with people,
and then afterward there's an activityUsually a fun activity and also a

(01:25):
time that we all sit together andusually there's a topic to discuss.
And, that's pretty, prettycommon to what we're going
through in the recovery journey.
And then also some of the nights wehave, celebration of, milestones where
we ring a church bell and celebrate.
So there's a lot of celebration.

(01:46):
Time.
and also if you like a smaller group,what's really awesome and has helped
me a lot is the weekday groups.
There's a noon group, there's a6:00 PM group where it's a smaller
gathering and there's a topic that'sthat's pretty general to recovery and
also just to living practical living.

(02:07):
And, everybody can openly share.
Its for all.
recovery paths, which I thinkis great because we've all
had our own unique journey.
And if you don't like the largergroup, there's, that's every
night of the, five days a week.
Sure.
Yeah, I've had some people that, maybejust start coming here for the first

(02:28):
time and sometimes they'll say, wow,60, 70, 80 people on a Friday night.
whoa.
So yeah, sometimes those weekdaygroups are a good way to just meet a
few people and make some connection.
And then.
And then move into thelarger group on Friday.
So definitely because it's open sharingand people are just real and yeah.
And you can just listen.
And that's encouraging too, tojust listen to other paths, right?

(02:51):
Or to other people's journey.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yep.
For anybody that comes throughhere, for those groups, yeah.
We always are just a open share or ifyou got something to say, that's great.
Number four, and last one.
If you wanna share, is there a part ofyour story that you would like to share?
maybe some experience, strength, or hope.
sharing that with somebodythat might be listening today?

(03:11):
Well, it's definitely been helpingin my journey to be real, to feel
my feelings instead of coveringthem up with a substance and
becoming vulnerable and open and.
having somebody reaching out to othersinstead of trying to deal with everything
myself, trying to solve everything.
'cause I know we were all, made forcommunity for other people to reach

(03:35):
out and help each other, and that'sdefinitely what you're getting here.
You've got people that listen to eachother and share their strengths and share
the challenges they're going through.
And, the love and compassionate acceptancethat you get here, it's very encouraging.
I'm losing the shame and thestigma of, having an addiction.

(03:59):
and it feels like familyhas been the big one to me.
I've lost my whole family.
and I've always lived in acommunity, but when I've lost that
through different circumstances,it feels like a family again.
I feel just free to be my realself, my, and give and take here.
Mm-hmm.
So I really appreciate that.
I would say a big thing family.

(04:20):
Well, Karol, we appreciate you, justsharing a little bit of your thoughts
and your experiences at Outreach 419.
We have loved seeingyou get plugged in here.
we have loved seeing you just becomea regular part of what we do and,
we just look forward to seeingwhat 2025 has in store for us.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah,