About David
My Recovery Journey
After nearly two decades of active addiction that led to multiple episodes of homelessness, incarceration, and suicide attempts, I entered into long-term, sustained recovery on May 26, 2018. In early recovery, I worked at our local detox and on a community mental health team as a peer support specialist, where I honed my story leading recovery groups and speaking at recovery conventions. I went on to achieve my Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor credential, National Peer Recovery Support Specialist certification, and Associate's degree from Alamance Community College.
Over the past few years, in my role as a peer support specialist and 911 first responder with the Durham Community Safety Department's HEART program I have had the opportunity to advocate for increased usage of peer support in emergency response as a presenter at conferences around the country, including the Crisis Intervention Team International conference, the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference, and the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health conference (in combination with a research team from Duke University). As a Peer Support Educator, I have led trainings on the role of peer support in emergency services for EMS providers and classrooms.
I have been featured in articles by publications such as The Assembly, the documentary film Heart for This, and most recently the healthcare policy podcast "The Fifth Branch" by Tradeoffs.
In addition to my work for the city as a first responder, I sit on the Lived Experience Advisory Board for our local Continuum of Care for homeless services. I am helping to build out a more robust homeless services system by chronicling the lived experience of people experiencing homelessness through a series of surveys and listening sessions to identify barriers to shelter and the needs of community members experiencing homelessness.
I am a believer that those of us with lived experience of addiction, homelessness, incarceration, and mental health challenges can achieve great things, and should be leaders in the services provided to others experiencing these conditions.