Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Wilson.
Robert, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was raised in an amazing family. I was provided every opportunity possible to create the life of my dreams. I was a high achiever in school and sports. Upon entering college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2002, having never, even once, taken a sip of alcohol or consumed a drug, I found myself surrounded by a life I was unfamiliar with. 10 weeks into my college experience I began to experiment with alcohol. Although I was several years away from the crippling downfall that addiction would bring into my life, I knew after just my first experience with drinking that I had discovered something that had the potential to alter my experience with life. During that first night of drinking, I discovered a relief from the consciousness of my mind. I was briefly relieved of obsessive thinking that was wrought with fear. I felt free.
Thus, began a 3-4 year spiral, the result of which was the loss of friends, romantic relationships, family support, enrollment in school and self-respect. When it became abundantly clear to my friends and family that I would not be able to overcome what had become a life-threatening addiction to drugs and alcohol, an intervention was conducted. I accepted help and my recovery journey began.
Although several more years of pain had to be inflicted in between stints of sobriety, which lasted anywhere from a few days to a couple years, I was shown a solution. Part of the solution was to come to terms with the idea that I hadn’t ever really understood what the problem was. It was not my drug and alcohol abuse.
The problem was my relationship to the world. It was my mental health. It was living a life driven by fear. All of these things were temporarily resolved in those brief few moments that drugs and alcohol provided me before the consequences struck again.
The solution to the problem was to begin, and continue to ask for help whenever I was faced with what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles. The solution was to throw my hands up in the air and admit that I had been defeated. I discovered that with regards to improving my mental health or overcoming addiction, I was uniquely unqualified to guide my own recovery. I would have to take directions, suggestions and advice from others.
Recovery consisted of recovery support meetings, mental health counseling, psychiatry, family support, full time employment, self sustenance, new friends, endless self-discovery and a willingness to give back to those in need.
After several years of sobriety, self-sustenance, new relationships and 40-60hrs a week of managing telecom retail stores, I began to wonder if I had really found my purpose. I felt like I there had to be something that was more meaningful to me. A friend, who had seen my passion for recovery suggested that I might consider opening a sober living program if I had an interest in working in the recovery field. When I heard this suggestion, it was as though a light bulb switched on in my consciousness and from that moment forward I become fixated on fulfilling this idea.
Within a couple months, I left the job that had provided me many opportunities for growth while newly sober and allowed me to become a self-sustaining adult. I accepted a job in a local sober living job where I lived and worked without compensation. During this experience, I was exposed to the full gamut of types of sober living homes. Sober was structured, others unstructured, some were gender specific and others were co-ed. Sadly, some were ethical and others were highly unethical. I was able to align myself with a gentleman who became a mentor to me. He led me towards building a program that was structured around the core values that were most important to me and those that I felt would be most effective in providing newly sober individuals the greatest chance of success at achieving long-term sobriety.
In Sept 2013, with my anxiety peaking as I pressed the endeavor forward, I acquired my first facility, a beautiful 3800 square ft. home in Encinitas, CA. For the purposes of sober living, it was perfect. I felt confident that I had the tools and passion to help aid the men that we would work with but had little clue as to how or where our clients would come from. Amazingly, on the very day that we moved the furniture into the home, we received a call that a young man was in need of support. A good friend had agreed to move into the house with me to help manage it for the first several months and so that first night we held our Sunday evening house meeting. Although the contents and format of this meeting have evolved greatly in 4 years, we still gather every Sunday to focus on peer accountability, personal wellbeing, community strength and overall growth in recovery.
During the course of the last four years, our program has drastically changed as a result of our evolving perception of the needs of our clients. We have found that the men we work with benefit greatly from a level of structure and accountability that we initially didn’t realize they needed. Our program has developed as a result of our striving to be continually aware of the areas of an individual’s life that if left unaddressed can often lead to the unraveling of their sobriety.
Since the inception of our organization, we have steered clear of any ethical grey areas. It has become fairly well known over the last several years, that the addiction treatment industry is struggling find its foothold in upholding widespread ethical practices. Despite grey area and unethical practices becoming commonplace, we’ve never had to waver from our commitment to operate at the industry’s highest standard. Our dedication to this has never been higher, and continues to be a core driver of our organization’s success.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been as smooth as I could have hoped, but there are struggles.
The greatest difficulty has been that there isn’t a clear-cut path to help each individual recover from addiction. We believe that there are paths to recovery for everyone, but it is often times not clear what may work for each individual. When the stakes are so high, which is to say, that each person is in a literal fight for their life, accepting that you can’t always help them get well, can be heartbreaking.
Also, we have had to make decisions at times that have thrown our business’ viability into jeopardy, in the interests in staying true to our vision. The are many reasons why, falling into unethical practices or allowing the financial interests of an organization to supersede its commitment to the highest quality of care, can be enticing. In almost all cases choosing the unethical route provides organizations with an immediate benefit financial reward. It can be difficult to compete with
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Shoreline Sober Living is an extended care residential drug and alcohol recovery program in Encinitas, CA. Our sober living homes provide the structure and support necessary for achieving sobriety and maintaining a lasting recovery from addiction. Our program is clearly defined, closely monitored, and emphasizes client participation and accountability. Our experienced staff members are both compassionate and firm in their approach, as we seek to address the many challenges that each client experiences during their journey towards long-term recovery.
We specialize in utilizing a hands-on approach to providing personalized support to each individual. We also work closely with the family members of our clients to give everyone involved the best opportunity to provide support in a healthy fashion. Our homes provide a level of support that enable us to help clients to identify the thought patterns, behaviors and decisions that can veer them away from their recovery.
What were you like growing up?
I loved to play sports and was pushed to excel in school. I was not necessarily outgoing nor particularly shy. I think I was pretty friendly most of the time. I was definitely insecure. My insecurities, as I got into middle and high school, drove me to do and say some things that I would like to have done differently.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1106 Second St #192
Encinitas, CA 92024 - Website: www.ShorelineSoberLiving.com
- Phone: 8589005079
- Email: robert@shorelinesoberliving.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShorelineSoberLiiving/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/shoreline-sober-living-sober-living-san-diego-san-diego
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