In this episode of “The Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast, I sit down to talk with Kattie Lail.

Kattie was exposed to meth at a very young age. Both her parents struggled with meth addiction, which resulted in a very dysfunctional home. When she was arrested at 19, Kattie realized she didn’t want to continue going down the same path. She went on to be a counselor of high-risk populations and remained sober for several years. After a relapse – or recurrence of symptoms – she was arrested on federal charges and spent three years in prison. That is when Kattie finally started to accept help from the people around her. She found a loving, supportive community to help her maintain wellness.

Today, Kattie is married with a young son and two Great Danes. Through her work as a peer coach and supervisor at We Face it TOGETHER, she can give back and help others. She loves being there for her members and sees the best in them, even when they cannot.

We Face it TOGETHER is a nonprofit addiction and wellness program which provides confidential, evidence-based peer coaching for those impacted by addiction, including loved ones. They don’t require sobriety or follow a one-size-fits-all program.

The story of We Face it Together starts with co-founder Kevin Kirby, a seasoned business executive. Despite being well connected in the community, having a loving family and the ability to draw upon significant financial resources, Kirby struggled to get well from his alcohol addiction. Once he did, after multiple treatment stays across a few years, he wanted to learn all he could about his disease and the addiction treatment landscape.

Kirby recognized there were flaws in the system and wondered how people with fewer or no resources ever managed to get well. He was called to do something. First, he was connected with Charlie Day, a lawyer, CPA and health care finance expert, who would ultimately become Face It TOGETHER’s other co-founder. Day had recently served as a senior finance officer in one of the nation’s largest regional integrated health care systems. He was an experienced start-up strategist and business innovator and ready to give back to the community.

Kirby and Day began crafting a vision for a community-wide transformation around the disease of addiction, along with some of the nation’s leading experts. Very soon they could see that those with the most “skin in the game” – employers, health care organizations and others – needed to play a leading role. Their work led to a seven-month community town hall process that enlisted the private, public and social service sectors to identify shared solutions to addiction in the community.

Face It TOGETHER was the outcome of those town halls. The organization’s model was unique, innovative and designed to bring social transformation around addiction. In 2009, the nonprofit opened its doors and began coaching in the Sioux Falls community.

Face It TOGETHER has been recognized by Ashoka, a leading network of social entrepreneurs, and has received the Bush Foundation’s Prize for Community Innovation. The nonprofit has also partnered with the Daniels Fund, to expand programming into Colorado, and Stand Together, as part of its prestigious catalyst program.

Since its start, Face It TOGETHER has coached members in more than 40 states, one U.S. territory and two other countries. The team’s dedication to the mission and vision has remained unwavering. And although Face It TOGETHER’s primary service, peer coaching, fundamentally has not changed, the organization has refined its processes and continued to learn from the communities in which it operates.

To find out more about Kattie and the work that she is doing at We Face it Together, check out their website at www.wefaceittogether.org.

Click on either of the links below to listen to the conversation.