Ep181 From Addiction to Purpose Jake Martz Road to Recovery & Leadership

I’m Jake Martz, and I never set out to get sober. I just knew I needed a change. My addiction started when I was 13, stealing cigarettes so kids wouldn’t pick on me. By adulthood, I was deep into meth, chasing any high I could find. I wrecked marriages, burned bridges, and spent years stuck in a cycle I didn’t even recognize as addiction. I wasn’t looking for recovery when I got a job working with at-risk youth. I was just trying to survive. But those kids saved me as much as I tried to help them. Without even realizing it, I started building skills that were healing my own life. Faith showed up years later, and that’s when everything clicked. Recovery isn’t just about staying clean it’s about finding purpose, living with boundaries, connecting with people who actually care, and giving back. Now I’m the Director of Prevention Services at Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition, and I get to show others the same grace I was given.