Phoenix Multisport, Inc. - Colorado Gives 365

The effects drug and alcohol abuse can have on our community are heartbreaking. It is not only the addict who suffers, but the greater communities they live in. Phoenix is a thriving non-profit that stems the tide of addiction by offering free recovery support in a safe, sober, active community.

Testimonials

I started drinking and using when I was about 10 years old. I remember stealing alcohol from my parents and sneaking shots of hard liquor as a way of dealing with being alone. I hated being alone and yet I feel like I spent most of my childhood this way. Alcohol made it easier for me to deal with being alone.

While I was unlucky to face the misfortune of addiction at such an early age, I was also very lucky to have fallen in love with mountains in my childhood. I grew up as a competitive ski racer. Mountains were always the place where I could feel happy and felt at home. I had a mountain heart. Unfortunately, when I was 12 years old, war broke out in my former country of Bosnia and I was forced to flee with my family into the unknown. My dreams of someday reaching the Olympics as a skier were shattered. I lost many friends in the war, and the grand uncertainty of return and the new journey into the world at large wore me out.

Alcohol eventually became my master, but my disease stayed dormant until I was about 18 years old as I was actively involved with playing hoops. Then at about 18 years of age, my alcoholism and drug abuse progressed, and I became a slave to my addiction. I lived in a dark, dark place for most of my life as a way to cope with my losses and my pain. Despite many personal successes, such as graduating from college, having an amazing love of my life, receiving a doctorate degree from an Ivy League school with a distinction, and becoming an avant-garde scientist, I remained a slave to my addiction. All I could think about was drinking and using. Hangovers were heavy and my drug use and alcohol abuse became ever greater.

When I finally hit bottom, I decided that I wanted to be sober and be committed to a life-long journey of sobriety and recovery. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Phoenix Multisport for helping me stay sober and live in long-term commitment to recovery and sobriety. I have mainly enjoyed Phoenix events through climbing, both indoors and outdoors, with the Boulder chapter. I am grateful to have met Sean and Rob, who lead climbing events and have taught me all I know about climbing. I have also met a plethora of awesome sober people who, just like me, enjoy their sobriety through being active with sports and doing things together. I have made some great friends through Phoenix. Their genuine love and their commitment to sobriety keep me going on my recovery journey and provide me with great motivation and support to stay sober. Phoenix has helped me realize that a large part of my recovery is dependent on staying active and doing things that I love instead of just re-visiting my powerlessness over my addiction. When I was drinking and using, I did not really know who I truly was. Phoenix has helped me redefine my identity in sobriety through climbing with other sober team members. Moreover, I am proud to be an avid backcountry skier and mountaineer and I cannot wait to enjoy the mountains in my newfound recovery and to share my love for the peaks with other Phoenix members.

I will soon be a certified ski guide and hope to use backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering as a way to promote living in recovery to others and to show other members where my true love resides, namely in the mountains and between tall peaks. I have never been happier in my life and my life has never, ever been better. Sobriety and recovery is what I am proud of the most in my life. And I thank Phoenix for helping me on my journey of life!

Mirza P.