W hen calling Andrew Boylston for an interview, I was asked to call back a little later—he was in the middle of a meditation class at STAND. This is a far cry from his earlier life. Andrew shares, “This is the longest I've been clean since I was twelve years old, so that's a pretty big step.” At present, he doesn’t have the ideal living situation—he was mandated by DeKalb County Drug Court to live in a treatment residency. “I really like peace and quiet, and that's not possible with twelve people living in one house.” He was also mandated to go to meetings, which is how he got involved with STAND. “They have different meetings, such as emotional support, but they could be on any kind of topic, like mental health, substance abuse, or wellness—they call it Wellness Wednesday.” Andrew also sees what STAND does for others: “They feed people—there are other people from drug court here, people from other programs here, so it's a pretty good place.” What does he think of the STAND program? “I’ve really grown to like it. I really like some of the staff here—they’re nice people. That's where I'm at right now, actually—we just finished a morning meditation.” He shares some of the help he’s received. “They definitely helped me out with some resources when I first got started, like some hygiene stuff, food, they even directed me toward getting some community service done, and they connected me with some people that, on a couple of different occasions, got me a $50 Walmart gift card just for answering a couple of questions.”
ANDREW Current Client BOYLSTON,
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