{"id":770,"date":"2017-05-26T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=770"},"modified":"2017-05-30T15:04:45","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T19:04:45","slug":"770","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=770","title":{"rendered":"ACR Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Addiction to Advocacy\u00a0<\/em><\/h1>\n

By\u00a0Bridget Whitfield<\/em><\/p>\n

The only thing Ryan Barone cared about, had hope in, and looked forward to was crack cocaine. Once an aspiring actor, substance abuse had caused Ryan to become an empty shell of the man he used to be. He had morphed into a person his family didn\u2019t recognize.<\/p>\n

Now, years later, Ryan is happily married, raising a child and working as community engagement coordinator at ACR Health. In August, he celebrated seven years clean from drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t always see an individual who\u2019s so honest and open about their experiences,\u201d said Daniel Reed, ACR Health senior prevention health advocate. \u201cAnd I think that has made him to be this beacon in ACR Health, because he\u2019s a wealth of knowledge on so many different levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan relapsed in September. Leaving his home in the morning, he spent the next 10 hours using. After, he returned home, and he\u2019s been clean since.<\/p>\n

The humbling experience \u2014 one of the toughest moments of his life \u2014 reminded him he will always be in recovery, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ego started to come into play again, and I thought I had it all figured out,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cIt was hard, and it came with a lot of guilt and shame losing seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan\u2019s first contact with drugs was during high school, when he experimented with marijuana. It eventually became an everyday hobby. After his mother discovered the habit and urged him to stop, he backed away from the drug and graduated.<\/p>\n

But on his first night of college at SUNY Brockport, where he went to study theater, he was tempted again. With the hope of fitting in, he started smoking marijuana. By the following year, he was introduced to psychedelic drugs like ecstasy and acid. He eventually was expelled, with a .008 GPA.<\/p>\n

Ryan moved home, and made a living selling drugs and bouncing between entry level jobs. A coworker who had been recently released from prison introduced him to crack cocaine, and he was hooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost knew I was addicted after that first hit,\u201d Ryan remembered.<\/p>\n

The next few years were filled with crime, violence, jail time and stealing from those closest to him.<\/p>\n

Ryan\u2019s mother had no idea about his drug abuse, and was devastated when he admitted to her he was battling addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most difficult seven or eight years of my life,\u201d she remembered. \u201cI told him I used to pray to whoever was there to take me and save him. That\u2019s how painful it was and I just wanted him to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2009, Ryan went to treatment court, and spent 30 days in jail. He decided to turn his life around, spending time in rehab and then a half-way house.<\/p>\n

Ryan wanted to get a job in public health. When someone suggested ACR Health, he knew he\u2019d found a place where sharing his experiences could help others struggling with drug addiction.<\/p>\n

Ryan was hired as the community engagement coordinator, and was recently promoted to oversee a new program relating to HIV testing and education throughout Onondaga County.<\/p>\n

He works with the peer education program at ACR Health. Peer educator Tracie Adams said she greatly appreciates Ryan\u2019s counsel. After Tracie had served two years in prison, Ryan helped her readjust to life in society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came home from prison, I went to talk to him and he gave me his honest opinion,\u201d Tracie said. \u201cHe was a great listener and he helped me out a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan admits he\u2019s not a model of perfection. His peers and clients appreciate that. It makes him a role model they can approach in both moments of triumph and moments of weakness.<\/p>\n

Knowing he helps people save their own lives is \u201cmore than fulfilling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most amazing feelings,\u201d Ryan said. SWM<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on ACR Health, visit acrhealth.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Addiction to Advocacy\u00a0 By\u00a0Bridget Whitfield The only thing Ryan Barone cared about, had hope in, and looked forward to was crack cocaine. Once an aspiring actor, substance abuse had caused Ryan to become an empty shell of the man he used to be. He had morphed into a person his family didn\u2019t recognize. Now,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[256,255,240],"class_list":["post-770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-causes","tag-acr-health","tag-bridget-whitfield","tag-june-2017"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cropped-SWM-logo-use-this-one.jpg?fit=930%2C448&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":546,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=546","url_meta":{"origin":770,"position":0},"title":"Lanika Mabrey","author":"Staff","date":"February 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Loss, Greater Gains By Samantha Mendoza | Photography by Alice G. 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