Hello, I’m Kelly. Physical, emotional, and mental health have been a large part of my personal journey, and helping others find their own healthy path is something I’m very passionate about. It’s a big part of why WEconnect and its mission matter so much to me. It’s a worthy solution for a devastating issue. But before we dive into that, I’d like to go back in time a bit and share a bit about myself.
As a teenager, I was subjected to the ups and downs of my parents’ marriage, which led to a few cross-country moves during the prime years of my adolescence. As many teens in such a position do, I began to act out. At the time, I didn’t understand the impact my reaction was having on my parents, which made it even more difficult for me to communicate with them.
My parents recognized my need for stability, so they sent me to live with my aunt and uncle. I started off 11th grade in a new home, with new family, in a new school. The idea of having to build new friendships seemed overwhelming, with college right around the corner. I felt isolated from my family and previous friendships.
Every school has their cliques, and being the new girl during junior year of high school made making friends that much more difficult. I turned to the people who welcomed me, and they happened to be those that were experimenting with drugs. The feeling of being part of a community was what I’d been missing. The shared connection of using substances was an escape that made me feel less isolated, and made what was going on at home seem more distant. Luckily, my parents got involved and had the means to intervene before this path became a lifestyle. I’m so grateful to have a supportive family that recognized the situation I was in, and was able to remove me from a toxic environment.
This experience in my life, however brief and “normal” it may be, gave me the insight and empathy to understand that everyone’s story is unique. There are countless events that can lead someone to self-medicate as a means of coping. Not everyone has access to the tools they need to change their relationship with substances and many aren’t fortunate to have a reliable support network. I believe everyone deserves access to the tools and the support of a recovery community, regardless where it comes from!
I joined the WEconnect Health Management team to ensure that anyone can access the recovery tools and community needed to support them in their recovery journey. WEconnect is a platform that offers individualized support to those underserved individuals and recovery communities, and my hope is that our platform can be the solution for the millions of people who are looking for help.
Our platform uses rewards-based contingency management to reinforce and incentivize habits that support recovery. Contingency management is a means of offering real support for people who may not be financially privileged. WEconnect offers motivational incentives, serving as a tool that rewards people for pursuing their own healthy paths and sticking with it when recovery gets hard.
To learn more about the science behind WEconnect, download our white paper about Contingency Management and its success in supporting recovery from SUD. Visit our How It Works page to learn how the WEconnect app rewards you for staying accountable to your recovery.
WEconnect provides positive reinforcement, peer support, and a community for those who need it most. Knowing that our program works for so many, I hope to help make the path to recovery easier for the millions of people dealing with substance use disorder by bringing awareness of the tool and services we provide.
WEconnect has already changed the lives of so many people, and it is their success that empowers our team and myself to keep working and building ways to improve the lives of people in need. I’m so grateful to be able to play my part in supporting them. Their stories motivate me, and I hope that mine can motivate others to help us be part of the solution for countless more.
.webp)