Lukas G. is a Turnbridge resident currently in the program’s third and final Phase. He came to New Haven after successfully completing primary treatment at Caron in Pennsylvania and since committing to recovery, he has made tremendous progress. Lukas grew up in Stamford, CT and played competitive soccer throughout his early years. After high school, he enrolled at The University of Rhode Island to study psychology and it was there that his substance abuse surfaced. “I had a really bad breakup with a girlfriend at school and I just didn’t know how to deal with it,” Lukas said. “I had been offered pills before. I heard kids did them but I never had. After the breakup, I was angry and started doing them.” Lukas began to regularly use opiates in the fall semester of his senior year at college, at the age of 21. He left school before beginning his final semester and moved back home. “I was really struggling,” Luke said. “My parents could tell that I wasn’t doing so well but they didn’t know what addiction was. I was only supposed to go home for a semester but ended up staying longer.” Lukas spent a year and a half back in his hometown, splitting his time between his divorced parents’ homes. “I hung out with friends every now and then,” Lukas said. “I basically left the house to get what I needed and went back home.” The situation worsened when Lukas began stealing from his parents to support his habit and they eventually were forced to pay several debts that he had accrued. “Basically, my whole personality changed,” Lukas said. “I went from being out-going to isolated. I wasn’t trustworthy. Everything that came out of my mouth was a lie.” Lukas’ psychiatrist recommended Caron’s program for primary treatment and he entered their Pennsylvania facility on July 3, 2012. He spent 31 days at Caron and following the staff’s recommendation; he immediately came to Turnbridge Drug Treatment and Sober Living. Lukas is currently in Phase III at Turnbridge, having spent about eight and a half months in the program thus far. He was recently hired as a House Manager at the Phase III Academy Street residence. When Lukas graduates from the program, he plans to work as a member of the Phase II support staff. He plans on getting an apartment with friends in the New Haven area and enrolling back into college next year and earn his undergraduate degree. In the meantime, Lukas is focused on “being healthy.”“My relationship with family is good now,” Lukas said. “The trust is slowly coming back and I can actually talk to them. Turnbridge teaches you how to live life again and become independent. I am motivated again to live a good life. I want to make something out of my life, not just be a drug addict.”