The first time Will met Kelly Markiewicz, she walked into Cathy’s House (Recovery Housing in Medina County, Ohio) with a box full of red Christmas stockings. He picked one up and wondered why it was so heavy. Inside were socks, toothbrushes, full-size deodorant, and a Big Book. On this episode of Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will, Kelly tells us how those stockings came to be and how Stockings from Victor became our THIRD Season One Spotlight Nonprofit.

Kelly takes us back to when Victor was in recovery and asked her to bring extra supplies for the guys who had no one bringing them anything. She talks about loving him through his heroin addiction, the ways she tried to protect him, and how counseling and an art project made from his recovery workbooks helped her grieve after he died. When she remembers Victor, she remembers how quick he was to think of the person who might go without.

What started as a Christmas drive now brings hygiene products, socks, and other essentials to people in recovery at 22 facilities across Northeast Ohio. We talk about what it means to get a gift filled with things you can actually use, especially when you’re spending the holidays away from family. Somewhere between Charlie Brown and talk of putting reindeer antlers on the delivery truck, Kelly leaves us with a message for anyone going through a dark time. “Don’t give up on yourself because life is worth it.”

For this year’s Christmas drive, Kelly shares her goal of raising $8,000 by December 12 to help fill more than 800 stockings. It costs about $10 to fill one. If you’d like to help, you can donate or share the drive using the links below.

Connect with Stockings from Victor

• Website — https://stockingsfromvictor.org/
• Ways to donate — https://stockingsfromvictor.org/ways-to-donate/
• Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/stockingsfromvictor/
• Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/stockingsfromvictor

Want to join us as a guest for Season Two in 2027? Email therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com.

Listener discretion advised. This episode discusses substance use and the death of a loved one.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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Kristin Baum hired Will at Family Video, fired him, and years later wrote the foreword to his memoir, Colors Across the Sky: A Journey of Hope. On this episode of Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will, she joins the guys to talk about the friendship that lasted through all of it.

Kristin remembers the call when Will told her he’d just gotten out of jail, the daily gratitude texts that followed, and the moment in his manuscript she couldn’t shake. Moments after being sentenced, Will stood in handcuffs, laughing through tears. When the man beside him asked why he was laughing, Will told him, “I prayed for this.” Nick shares the morning he finally picked up the phone and started calling treatment centers.

Between old Family Video stories and a surprise Mickey Mouse impression, the three talk about how perfectionism can follow you into recovery and what it looks like to help someone take the next step. Kristin shares how she connected a real estate client with recovery support in Medina County and leaves listeners with a message of her own. It’s never too late to ask for help.

Find out more about Kristin: https://www.evrealestate.com/en/shops/cleveland/our-advisors/kristin-baum/3d034824-be16-4d06-83ed-fb41606d3513

Find Will's book, Colors Across The Sky: A Journey of Hope on Amazon!: https://a.co/d/03SmKtg4

Check out www.colorsacrossthesky.com for more information!

Want to be a guest on Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will for SEASON TWO in 2027? Send an email to: therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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“I used to say that my life is boring, but I’ve come to understand that it’s peaceful.”

On this episode of Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will, we sit down with our dear friend Jabari Anderson, a Cleveland recovery and mental health advocate who had three years and five months clean when we recorded. Jabari takes us from growing up in New York with his Jamaican mom and serving in the church’s audiovisual ministry to experiencing homelessness, using methamphetamine, and eventually entering treatment in Ohio.

Jabari talks about how people-pleasing shaped his choices, what it was like when his mom needed to step back during his addiction, and how he found a spiritual practice of his own in recovery. He also remembers walking into treatment with a peer recovery certificate and asking a case manager how to put it to work. Her answer was simple. Focus on your treatment. Years later, working in behavioral health himself, he understands what she was trying to tell him.

We get into the stuff that still comes up years into recovery, too. How do you leave work at work when you care about the people you serve? How do you give yourself room to make a mistake when you already feel like you have to prove you belong? Jabari brings plenty of humor to those questions and leaves us with a message for anyone trying to make it to their next milestone, whether that’s a 30-day chip, a diploma, or another day clean.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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