Karen

Drugs & Alcohol

Karen doubts she would have seriously considered a social work degree if she hadn’t been through the struggle to overcome her alcohol addiction.

She moved from Australia to New Zealand with her husband and three children four years ago. A year after their arrival, Karen decided she needed to do something about her drinking. She enrolled as a day client in The Salvation Army’s Bridge Programme. She was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and The Salvation Army Recovery Church, geared towards helping recovering alcoholics and drug addicts stay on track.

Things went smoothly for a while, but Karen says she struggled to admit she was an alcoholic and 17 months ago relapsed.

In May last year, Karen decided to get her life back on track and started as a volunteer with The Salvation Army working at the food bank. After qualifying as a budget advisor, she began working with families trying to make ends meet. Earlier this year she became a part-time staff member.

‘Immersing myself in this place and the support from everyone here has made the difference.‘ This year, Karen completed a psychology paper in preparation for full-time study next year for a Bachelor of Applied Social Services.