Hannah Walsh was just 12 years old when she began dabbling with alcohol. It was on the heels of losing her older sister, a devastating tragedy for her family. Hannah knew from the start that her relationship with alcohol would become problematic.

"I knew that if I was going to drink again after that, I needed multiple. I wasn't going to bother with one beer ever again," she said. Alcohol became more and more of the main event in her life, and she reached the breaking point after college. "I taped newspapers all over my mirrors because I couldn't look at myself anymore."

Hannah has been sober since Christmas Eve in 2022 and has not looked back. She is doing exciting work in the recovery field. Tune in to hear all about her inspirational story.

Kevin Rosario began using drugs and alcohol when he was just 13 years old. Before long, he was selling drugs to pay for his habit, getting into trouble with the law and finding himself in and out of rehab. During all of this, he came close to losing his life in a violent incident. Listen as he shares the details of what led him down this path, why he considers the substances to be secondary and what he believes are the most effective ways for parents and kids to make healthy choices.

Cameron and Hunter Flores are brothers who, coincidentally, both began dabbling in alcohol and marijuana at 13 years old. Little did they know this seemingly harmless recreational use would lead them on parallel paths to full-blown, long-term addiction to opioids, meth, heroin, cocaine, crack and other illicit substances.

They were in and out of rehab, had brushes with the law and survived life-threatening situations. Remarkably, they were both able to become sober after these experiences and are eager to share their stories as a hopeful and cautionary tale for parents and young people alike.

Aileen Walsh and Liz Miller hold positions that represent the creative solutions towns are coming up with to meet a growing demand for mental health intervention services. Aileen is the Community Crisis Response Clinician and works for the Police Department.

Her role is to go out on calls with patrol officers to assist with psychiatric and behavioral emergencies in the field. She provides initial intervention services to individuals in need and follows up with crisis case management, mental health, substance abuse and victim assistance referrals, and short-term crisis counseling as needed.

Liz is the social worker for the Health Department and also administers the State's Opioid Abatement Funds as the substance-abuse program coordinator. Both women draw upon their personal experiences and use them in their line of work.

As a result, they bring a tremendous amount of empathy and compassion to their jobs. Learn more about their unique and important roles as well as their inspirational personal stories.

Rory and Chris Earley both grew up in homes with alcoholic parents. When they got married and started their own family, they thought about ways in which they would do things differently in raising their own children. Rory is sober, and Chris drinks on occasion. But it is more than just about examining their relationship with alcohol. "We're all about a boring household," says Chris. "It's a simple home. It's the healthiest environment that we can manufacture." Listen to Rory and Chris talk about their upbringings, the ways in which it impacted their lives and how they came together to create something new.

From a young age, Senator Patrick O'Connor has been passionate about public service, so it is only natural that he would serve his community as an elected official. For the past eight years, he has worked with his constituents and his colleagues on Beacon Hill to address various public health issues, like the opioid crisis.

His experiences living and learning overseas guide his collaborative approach, and the people he has known who have struggled with the disease add an element of personal passion to the cause. Tune in to hear Sen. O'Connor talk about the legislative process and current efforts being made to combat substance use disorder.

Kathleen Mahoney has an enormous territory and a huge responsibility serving as a Nicotine Compliance Officer for several towns on the South Shore of Massachusetts. She must stay on top of state law and local regulations for each community and ensure that retailers are not in violation. One of her primary tasks is to make sure youth are not given access to age-restricted products. The landscape is constantly changing, and new products are regularly being introduced to the marketplace. Kathleen discusses changes she has seen, current trends and ways parents can keep their children safe around knock-off products.

In 2017, Hingham resident Lori McCarthy co-founded the Herren Wellness Center in Seekonk with acclaimed speaker and former basketball star Chris Herren. Both of them are in recovery from substance use, and their mission was to provide a holistic service that would positively impact the lives of individuals and their families. Lori talks about the process of getting the center opened, describes her own personal journey of recovery and stresses the importance of encouraging young people to abstain from using substances.