Adam Jablin Shares his Personal Journey in Recovery

Adam was a successful third-generation businessman in the big-money, rough-and-tumble New Jersey fashion industry. “Where I grew up, winning was the greatest reward. You never surrender. You fight to the last breath.”

His fight met its match when he became addicted to alcohol and drugs. “Addiction takes you into a darkness where you are consumed by your own thoughts, insecurities, and your obsession to get your next fix,” he explained. “Nothing else matters.”

In 2006, his path led him to Hanley Center. “Hanley taught me that I was not a bad person, but I was a sick person. I wasn’t trying to get good; I was trying to get well. And one day at a time, then one week at a time, things slowly started to shift. I connected with God. He removed the roadblocks in my life. The empowering mentors and psychologists at Hanley ignited the hero within me. With strength and courage, I surrendered to the greater power — and joined the winning team.”

The necklace Adam proudly wears is a constant reminder of his journey — to himself and to those he inspires. “After many lost years, I checked myself into Hanley Center on July 15, 2006. The very next day, I was given my necklace and first medallion. Milestones were marked with more medallions, so I wear several these days.”

The necklace and medallion were not Adam’s only revelation on day two at Hanley. “When I was in that twilight between wake and sleep, I had what I can only describe as a vision. I saw bottles of booze and drugs of all sorts being placed in the huge hands of God. This was even more amazing because I was not a ‘God-guy’ at this point.” That vision helped shape Adam’s life and work ever since.

“And little by little, the heroes at Hanley loved me back to health, replacing the old Adam and allowing me to be reborn with a brand-new life. It was a process that was full of love, conversation, connection, and community.”

“Those of us in recovery have lived through hell. Now, for perhaps the first time, we’ve been given a purpose in life. And as we fulfill that purpose, we feel happy, joyous, and free.”

What’s New

Teen Court: A Second Chance to Keep a Clean Record

With funding from Florida Department of Children and Families, Hanley Foundation is giving teens a chance to make amends for minor offenses while avoiding a criminal citation that could influence the rest of their lives. School resource officers can order students to Teen Court where the judge, jury, and attorneys are classmates from the school’s Criminal Justice Academy.

Sentences may be letters of apology, community service, and/or mental health counseling, and the student must also submit to weekly drug testing, paid for by Hanley Foundation.

Narcan Saves Lives

But only if it gets to the patient in time. To make the lifesaving medicine available 24 hours a day, Hanley provided 20 Narcan distribution cabinets for government buildings, public housing, and parks – and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office funded cabinets in Wellington, Belle Glade, Pahokee, and Lake Worth. Overdoses don’t just happen to substance users. It could be a patient who misunderstood dosing, a child who found legal prescription drugs in his home, or a teen experimenting with no way of knowing that a vape pen was laced with fentanyl.

Safe Prescribing Initiative Seeks to Reduce Opioid Supply

Research shows that legitimate prescriptions are the most common source of opioids for adolescents who misuse them. The Safe Prescribing Initiative’s goal is to keep children and the community safer by decreasing the number of opioid prescriptions per capita. Working with public health agencies and the medical community, the initiative provides options for post-discharge treatment, education about pain management before and after surgery, recommendations for securely storing and disposing of unused medication, and other safety information.