Former Addict Trying to Help Others with Sobriety in Oklahoma

A man who overcame addiction after fighting it for years, is now helping others in Oklahoma, find their sobriety.

Growing up, Todd Adams was determined to be a college baseball player like his dad. When he was thirteen years old, he got an injury that ended his career and his dreams, and he was devastated. He fell in with the wrong crowd and was introduced to marijuana.

“That led me on a path of spiraling out of control,” Adams said.

He became an addict but was still able to function. He got a college degree and started a successful pest control company in Memphis, Tennessee.

“People would ask me what my drug of choice was, and I just would say ‘more of whatever you had,’” Adams said.

He was able to hide his addiction for a long time, but eventually, it caught up to him and he hit rock bottom in 1998 when he discovered crack cocaine.

“My wife left me,” Adams said. “My first wife. She took my dogs, everything I had, rightfully so, and all my money. I lost my company and my house burned down, so I lost everything. "

He started living in motels and couldn’t give up his addiction until his mom took him to a place that changed his life. She took him to the Adult and Teen Challenge Center of Arkansas, where he spent twenty-four months in the faith-based rehab program before he was completely sober. After he graduated, he started working at another Adult and Teen Challenge facility in Pensacola, Florida because he wanted to stay clean and help others have a second chance at life. Now, he is the director of a similar program in Oklahoma.

“I don’t have a job, I don’t work,” Adams said. “This is my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything."

His favorite part is seeing the transformation of a person from when they start the program to when they graduate.

“Seeing them reunite with their moms and dads and their sons and daughters is the most powerful thing you could ever be a part of,” Adams said.

If anyone is ready to get their life back and choose recovery, he wants to help.

"There is hope to get better,” Adams said.