Jamie’s Story

When you meet Jamie Faulkner, you’re immediately struck by his warmth, magnetic energy, passion, and unwavering commitment to helping others. For him, his job isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. And recovery isn’t just something to keep to yourself.  

Jamie serves as a Community Support Specialist on the Rise Team (team specializing in supporting people struggling with both substance use and mental health). He inspires us all by using his personal story of overcoming adversity and finding purpose to guide him every day – both inside and outside of the PFP walls.  

“I can understand and relate to a lot of people that start off rocky and feel like the cards are stacked against them because I’ve been there,” says Jamie. His mother was a survivor of domestic violence and prostitution, and had to give him up when he was a baby. His father was uninvolved and incarcerated for most of his life. That led to his grandparents raising him until they passed away when he was a teenager.  

Jamie often dealt with feelings of abandonment and isolation, and not feeling like he was good enough. Before he knew it, drugs were a part of his everyday life. That is, until March 10, 2021. Within a few days leading up to that, his friend overdosed and died, his cousin was shot and died, and he felt like he was next when he landed in the hospital after being attacked and mugged while out looking for drugs.  

He thought, “why am I in the chaos of this? I need to stop this. Death is literally right here at my door.” While he was in the hospital, a worker from Preferred Family Healthcare, a partner of Places for People, stopped by and asked him if he was tired of this way of life. It struck a chord with Jaime – he felt his empathy and understanding immediately. This worker was also in recovery. It was time for a change. 

Jamie quickly got enrolled in services. He made up his mind that he was going to give it his all. And he did. If they told him to come in three days a week, he went in five. He attended 90 meetings in 90 days, and didn’t stop there. He got a sponsor and kept putting in the hard work to better understand his trauma and the disease of addiction. 

He was gaining momentum with his goals but had a hard time finding a job that felt like a good fit. In his free time, he did outreach in the areas he used to frequent. He hoped to help more people get out of similar situations he was once in. Someone noticed what he was doing and encouraged him to apply at Places for People. They told him that PFP pays people to do exactly what he was doing. Something he was clearly passionate about.  

The rest is history. Jamie got an interview and has been making waves ever since. He and his team work closely together to help determine the level of support persons served need, build rapport, and address various needs people have, such as food, jobs, and healthcare. Jamie admits that the work is hard sometimes, but beams about how he finally found a job that is rewarding. 

Being a part of a team that helps people see that recovery is possible and that they are enough is something he is sincerely proud of. He is filled with gratitude that they have also invested in helping him learn the field and are some of his biggest cheerleaders encouraging him to reach for the stars. They helped advise him about FASFA. Now, he is pursuing his education, taking classes in psychology and photography, and has aspirations of becoming a therapist or life coach.  

Besides making a big educational leap, he’s continuing to heal and thrive in various ways. When his son’s mother passed away, he didn’t know how to talk about it, even though he’d been through it himself. He took it as an opportunity to rebuild a relationship with his son and make sure his son felt like he was enough and not alone. They worked on their mental health and communication skills together, which also has led to attending comedy shows and doing other activities they both enjoy together.

Having never gotten to meet, much less say goodbye, to his own mother, Jamie wrote a letter to her as a healthy way to process and get his feelings out. Although he never had a relationship with his own parents, it wasn’t too late for him to have one with his son. It was a second chance at the parent-child relationship he’d always wanted. And at a time when he felt like he could really show up as his best self – a person in recovery.  

This year, Jamie got engaged and also celebrated three years clean. It will give you chills about how he now works beside the counselor and other staff that were there for him in the very beginning of his recovery.  

Jamie says, “this gift of recovery is for me, but it’s also for me to pass along to the next person. To reach back down and shine the light on the path so someone else can follow that light – that’s why I work at Places for People.” It is a full circle moment for him that he can now do what was once done for him. And do it beside those that helped get him to this point.  

Jamie’s story is a testament to the power of resilience, the transformative impact of recovery, and the profound difference that one person can make in the lives of others. By sharing his journey, Jamie inspires us all to believe in the possibility of change and to never give up on our dreams. His success is a shining example that with the right support and determination, anything is possible. 

We’re proud to have you as part of our team, Jamie, and can’t wait to see how you continue to show us that you are Going Places and helping others achieve milestones as well! Keep up the great work!