MANSFIELD, Ohio — Brothers Jerry and Cole Rose share more than the same last name–they share a history of drug use that haunted their lives for about 20 years before they both sought treatment at Mansfield Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP).
The Mansfield natives began using drugs around the same time–Jerry was 12 and Cole was nine.
“It started out with smoking a little bit of marijuana,” Jerry said.
“We’d get out of school on Friday and that’s how we would spend our weekend–a bunch of us would get together and smoke pot,” Cole said. “It started with pot and then before I knew it we were drinking, too. Then pills came into the picture.”
They grew up with an abusive stepfather. “I think that might be part of the reason why we used so much together,” Jerry said. “We always wanted to be out doing something and that’s kind of how we fell into the wrong crowd.”
Drugs had a negative effect on their schooling. “I didn’t want to go to school at all,” Jerry said. “I skipped school almost every day. I started having to go to court for truancy.”
At the age of 17, Jerry earned his GED certificate while in the eighth grade. “Since I had failed about three grades, there was no way they were going to send me to high school, being 18 years old and getting into the ninth grade. So I got my GED when I was in the eighth grade at Ocie Hill,” he said.
He said he didn’t care about furthering his education because “at that point in time I thought I was going to be a big drug dealer,” he said.
He used to play music with a friend at different clubs on the weekends, noting, “I was real serious about it at one point in time and I think that the drug abuse actually put a damper on that. If we did make any money playing music we’d spend it on drugs.”
Cole also saw how drug use had a negative effect on his life. “Nobody trusted me,” he said. “Nobody wants a drug addict around–that’s for sure.”
Cole dropped out of school at 17 years old and found work in different factories to make ends meet.
Jerry said, “I went pretty much from job to job until I was about 25 and then I got into restaurant management and I worked that for about seven years. I made pretty good money, but everything that I made went to support my [drug] habit.”
A little over a year ago, Jerry lost his job and his apartment.
“We both pretty much hit bottom at the same time,” Jerry said. Not long after “hitting bottom,” they began to receive treatment at UMADAOP, knowing that “something had to change or one of us was going to either end up dead or in jail,” Jerry said.
UMADAOP helps at-risk youth, adults and families receive prevention, intervention and treatment services to combat alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs abuse, help reduce violence and resolve other crime-related problems.
“It’s a great program,” Cole said of UMADAOP.
The brothers have supported each other throughout the recovery process. “I would always look out for him and he would always look out for me with the drugs. If one of us was drug-sick, dope-sick, we’d look out for each other, and we’re doing the same thing in recovery. If he has a bad day or feeling like he wants to relapse, then I’ll pull him up and he’ll do the same for me, Jerry said.
“It was real challenging at first, but we both had a mindset that that was what we wanted to do when we got here. It wasn’t like we were forced to come. And since we have been in the program, we haven’t had the urge to go back out there and experience the hell that we were once going through.”
Now that they’re clean, they both maintain steady jobs at the same workplace.
“Ever since I’ve decided to turn my life around, it’s been great,” Jerry said. “I’ve got a job, a steady job for the first time in 10 years.”
They have optimistic perspectives on life, setting goals for themselves that they previously didn’t think were possible to achieve.
Cole said one of the first things he wants to accomplish is to obtain a GED certificate. “There are a lot of things I want to do,” he said. “I’m just not real sure exactly where I’m going yet.”
Someday they’d like to open their own haul and freight business, Jerry said.
“So much more is possible now that we’re not on that road that we were,” Jerry said. “It’s like being reborn.”
They hope that their story encourages others struggling with addiction. “The real reason I agreed to do this [interview] is because I want people to know that [recovery] is possible,” Jerry said.
Cole added, “I want people to know it’s possible, too, and that being a drug addict shouldn’t define you. You gotta move past it.”
Mental health and substance abuse treatment combined with healthcare reform is helping some local residents along the Road to Recovery from addiction. In the series, Road to Recovery, Richland Source shares their stories in cooperation with the Richland County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board.
