When Carlie Brockmann was 15 years old, her family became a foster family. That was the first time Carlie had been exposed to people struggling with addiction.
Although she had grown up thinking of people who use drugs as bad people, she saw in the parents of some of her foster siblings people who loved their children very much but couldn’t figure out how to stop using drugs.
It helped her rethink her assumptions and feel compassion for the deeper pain behind a person’s substance use.
A few years passed, she went to college, and she met Ethan. They got married ten years ago, the same year we met Joanne. A few years after that, they attended one of our local events, and Carlie remembers:
“It was the first time I’d seen anyone doing work like this. Most people won’t have an experience in the foster care system. Once you see how [a punitive response to drugs and addiction] is playing out, it’s hard not to change your mind. We wanted to support End It For Good so more people could have that experience.”
Ethan and Carlie just celebrated FIVE YEARS of monthly giving to End It For Good! We are blown away!
Ethan took the mathematics degree he earned at Mississippi State University and put it to work in IT Data Science, while Carlie spends her days pouring into their three young daughters.
In many ways, they’re a typical young family with all the stresses and commitments that come with that. But they made a choice to invest in this cause – to pay an experience forward – and make a choice every month to continue.
Click here to set up a recurring donation by selecting “Monthly” under the “Frequency” heading. Even small amounts make a big impact, especially when you blink and five years of faithful giving has flown by!
One of the resources that was most helpful on Ethan’s learning journey was the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. It was also a significant part of and End It For Good’s launch.
And we've got a free copy for you!
When you sign up to become a monthly donor at any amount, we’ll send you a free print copy of Chasing the Scream.
We’re in this together, growing this movement person by person, heart by heart, mind by mind.