My Story – Angel MacEachern, 2025

My name is Angel MacEachern, and I am 52 years old. I lived in active addiction for over 25 years and spent more than a decade incarcerated between 2009 and 2021. For me, addiction began early, shaped by trauma and instability.

I started using drugs at 13. I was hanging out with older people, pretending to be someone I wasn’t, and getting lost in alcohol and pills. By my teenage years, I was already facing verbal, physical, and emotional abuse. I became a teen mom at 18 and, not knowing much about pregnancy or parenting, I struggled. My relationships were abusive, and soon I was raising children while battling addiction.

Despite loving my kids, addiction took over. I gave temporary guardianship of my children to my mother because I couldn’t stay sober. I tried getting clean, and at times I did, but I would relapse. After back surgery in my 30s, I was prescribed opiates, and that spiraled into oxycodone use, which pushed me further down. By 39, I found myself in prison for the first time, serving four years. I had never even been to county jail before — and suddenly I was locked up.

When I was released, I got into heroin. It was cheaper and more accessible than pills. That led me to Kansas, where I thought a change of scenery might save me, but instead I found myself homeless, on the streets, and running from probation. For years, my life was in and out of jails, prisons, trap houses, and courtrooms. I overdosed for the first time in 2018. On December 1, 2018, I overdosed again and nearly died.

The turning point came in January 2019. I received a message that my mother was dying. I threw $500 worth of drugs out the window on the way to the airport, knowing my mom’s only wish was for me to be sober. My clean date is January 24, 2019. My mother passed away two days later, on January 26. Though I couldn’t make her proud in life, I swore I would make her proud in death by staying clean.

It wasn’t easy. I still faced prison time in Kansas, probation, and being extradited. The hardest thing was going back behind bars while already sober. But this time was different: I was doing UAs, seeing counselors, attending meetings, and building a foundation for recovery. In June 2021, I was released again. This time, I had stability. I had a place to live, a job, medication-assisted treatment, a counselor, a recovery coach, and a community navigator. For the first time, I didn’t feel alone.

Since then, I’ve stayed committed to my recovery. I’ve built my life around MARA (Medication Assisted Recovery Anonymous), where I’ve found unity and accountability. The MARA steps and traditions, along with my MAT, counseling, and support network, keep me clean.

Today, I am a MAT Ambassador, a speaker, and a facilitator of MARA meetings across Massachusetts — from Brockton and Weymouth to Jamaica Plain, Plymouth, Taunton, and Worcester. I share my story in detoxes, sober homes, and correctional facilities. My journey includes not only the depths of addiction and incarceration but also the grief of losing my mother and the miracle of long-term recovery.

I use my past not as a source of shame but as a platform for change. I want people to know recovery is possible and that it looks different for everyone. Recovery is not “one size fits all.” With the right mix of support, treatment, and community, anyone can find a way forward.

My mission now is simple: to make sure no one walks alone.