Born in Anaheim to drug-addicted parents, Sabrina was immediately surrounded by drug abuse and violence. At the age of 2, the SWAT team came for her father – he’s now serving a life sentence. She soon had a stepfather and two younger sisters. With her mom and stepdad heavily addicted to meth, Sabrina was forced to take care of both her sisters, trading drugs for food, diapers and formula. She was also the victim of sexual assault by men who partied with her parents, hiding her sisters in the closet to protect them from the same fate.

At the age of 8, Sabrina and her sisters were finally taken from the home, and were eventually adopted by a single mother. Unfortunately Sabrina and the adoptive mother clashed, and she eventually bounced around to various group homes. It was in a group home where she started experimenting with drugs herself.

During high school, Sabrina discovered she was pregnant – with twin boys. After their birth, she started using again, and consistently fought with the twins’ father. After one of these fights became physical, her sons’ father was arrested and she was forced to move to a shelter with her sons. When one of her sons was molested by an older child at the shelter, she decided it was best to turn the boys over to their paternal grandmother, who has been supportive throughout. Now 9, her sons live with their father in Oklahoma; her long-term goal is to be reunited with them at some point in the future.

During the next six years or so, Sabrina continued in a toxic cycle of drug use, bad relationships and serving time in jail. It wasn’t until a boyfriend overdosed and nearly died in her presence that she had her wake-up call.

Now sober since May 6, 2022, Sabrina went through treatment at Yellowstone Recovery and moved to an Action Alliance residence after completing the program. She has worked for a marketing company for nearly two years, performing both back office and phone sales duties. And, on July 27, 2024, she became a house manager for Action Alliance!

“After my boyfriend’s overdose, I realized I had to make a choice – do I want to live or do I want to die? I am so glad I decided to live! I’m in love with the life I have now, and am even in the healthiest romantic relationship I’ve ever been in – we met through the recovery community nearly a year ago. I’m also close to my two little sisters and see them regularly.”

“Action Alliance has taught me that giving back is so important, and that structure and being responsible are key,” she explains. “The principles I’ve learned through AA have also been important – in fact, you can apply them to many different aspects of your life. I wish I had known about them sooner!”