Hope Is a Person. Sometimes That Person Is a Peer Mentor. — "We're Here to Love You Until You Can Love Yourself"

That's what Luciano Nicolas heard on July 3rd — standing in a detox hallway, ready to walk out. His peer mentor said it. One sentence. And Luciano stayed.

We recorded Episode 120 of the Real Recovery Podcast live at True Colors Recovery in Portland, and it was unlike anything we have done before. Three guests — Luciano Nicolas from Atlas Treatment Center, Ebony Brawley from 4D Recovery, and Jack Taylor from True Colors Recovery — sat down with us to talk about peer services. Not what they are on paper. What they actually feel like.

She went in not sure she had a problem. She came out with her people.

What does it take to build a life in recovery — not just stay sober, but actually find your people, set real limits, and feel like yourself again?

That's the question Cassandra P. spends the better part of an hour answering in this episode, and we're still thinking about parts of it. If you heard Part 1 last week, you know how she grew up inside recovery — AA meetings from age five, a home built on honesty — and still ended up in addiction at 32. Part 2 is what happened after she finally walked through the doors of Another Chance in Portland.

She went in May 2024, not fully convinced she had a problem. She graduated six months later. Between those two dates, she did IOP five days a week, found a counselor named Julia through DBT who became her favorite person in the program, and discovered something she hadn't felt since high school — a real sense of belonging. "Another Chance has been good for you," her counselor Jerry told her at graduation, "but you've been good for Another Chance."

She knew the rooms. She just didn't think they'd ever be hers.

"Before I even gave myself to God, I just feel like I'm blessed." That's how Cassandra P. opens her story — and she means it without a trace of irony. She grew up with a mother who got sober cold turkey before she was born, attended AA meetings from age five, and never once saw either of her parents high. If recovery had a blueprint for raising a child who'd never need it, her mom Julie — our co-host — followed it.

And at 32, Cassandra still ended up in addiction.

That's the heartbreak at the center of this episode. And the reason we think it's one of the most important conversations we've ever had on this show.

At nine years old, Skyler Ray decided he was brave. It would take nearly twenty years to find out what that decision was costing him.

At nine years old, Skyler Ray decided he was brave. His mother left him and his brother at a Portland shelter — she said she'd be back with food, and she never came back. Police split the boys into different cars, placed them in different foster homes the same week. In less than seven days, he lost his mom, his dad, and his brother. He told himself it was an adventure. He didn't know he was broken.

We first put Skyler's story out as Episode 22, and it has never left us. When 4D Recovery invited him to perform at their Summer Bash 2026 on June 13th in Vancouver, WA, we knew it was time to bring it back. If you found us after Episode 22 aired, you're about to hear something that changes how you think about recovery.