Sober 6 years since 8/18/2006, Joanna shares a powerful story of transformation. Her parents divorced when she was in 3rd grade because her father was an alcoholic.
She moved to Atlanta with her mom & her brother after the divorce. Her mother worked full time & attended law school at night.
Joanna made good grades in school and was a cheer leader for 3 years in high school.
She was raped at 15 after being slipped the date rape drug. She blamed herself & never told her parents. She began using shortly after the rape and her good grades began to disappear.
She dropped out of high school & got her GED when she was 18.
She got involved in a Program in 1989 but did not do what was suggested. She left that Program 1 year later and didn't get back into a Program until 2006.
Since 2006, she has experienced the death of both of her parents, the lose of her job twice, getting her home out of foreclosure, facing the IRS, the death of many friends and a failed relationship in sobriety only to grow stronger.
Wanting nothing to do with God at first, she has become a Spiritual Seeker. She finds particular strength through the Native American Ceremonies in Cherokee North Carolina.
She focused on the Spiritual aspects in a talk in 2017 on WeJoy:
(51 min) (17.6 MB) (id#323)