When Laila Love arrived at OneHeart on August 20, she was not arriving at the beginning of her recovery journey. In many ways, she had already spent months doing some of the hardest work of her life.
After becoming involved with the justice system and losing custody of her infant son due to addiction, Laila Love faced a crossroads. She could continue down a destructive path, or she could make a different choice. No court order forced her into treatment. No mandate required her to change. The decision was entirely her own.
She chose recovery.
Recognizing that drugs had become a way to self-medicate and cope with life’s challenges, Laila Love checked herself into the Care Campus, where she spent four months focused not simply on sobriety, but on learning. She wanted to understand how to handle stress differently. She wanted to build new skills, not just survive treatment.
Throughout that process, something remarkable happened.
A network of community partners recognized her commitment and potential. The Care Campus, Rebound, the State’s Attorney’s Office, and Child Protective Services all worked together to help connect her to OneHeart. Collaborative referrals of that magnitude are rare, and they reflected a shared belief that Laila was doing the work necessary to create true and lasting change.
Before arriving at OneHeart, she invested heavily in herself. She completed relationship education classes, participated in anger management programming, and learned healthy communication skills. She focused on becoming a stronger parent and a healthier person.
Today, she continues to build on that foundation.
Laila is working toward her GED and recently passed her first exam with flying colors. She hopes to complete the entire credential by the end of the year and is already exploring possibilities for higher education.
At the same time, she works evenings while attending classes during the day. She meets regularly with a life coach, is actively seeking a sponsor through Narcotics Anonymous, and intentionally surrounds herself with people who support her goals.
She has also begun preparing for life after OneHeart. She has applied for housing, is working toward building savings for the first time in her life, and is carefully planning for the day when she reunites with her son full-time.
That reunion is one of her greatest motivations.
Currently, Laila has unsupervised visitation and hopes an upcoming CPS hearing will allow her to begin caring for her son on weekends before eventually regaining full custody. The process is not without challenges. One concern she is actively working through is finding nighttime childcare so she can continue working while parenting successfully.
Yet every obstacle is met with the same mindset that has carried her this far: preparation, responsibility, and determination.
Even those around her have noticed.
Her probation officer has expressed pride in the progress she has made. Supervisors at work have recognized her initiative, reliability, and leadership. Laila takes great pride in her work and naturally looks for ways to improve the environment around her. She thinks ahead. She plans ahead. She wants more for herself and her family.
Most importantly, she has chosen to create distance from the people and influences that once pulled her backward, including some family relationships. She fills her time with self-improvement, books, affirmations, positive influences, and personal growth.
“I know boredom can be dangerous for me,” she explains. “So I keep myself busy learning and surrounding myself with positive people.”
At OneHeart, she is grateful for the stability that allows her to focus on growth. She spoke appreciatively about Chef Sarah’s meals, which remove one daily worry from her life, and about the support she receives from her Care Coordinator, Aiden.
But perhaps the most powerful insights came when Laila reflected on what she has learned about herself.
“My drug addiction doesn’t define me. If you want change in life, you have to be willing to make change. And even when we hit rock bottom, the only direction is up.”
And perhaps most telling of all:
“If I want change, I’ve got to make it myself. No one else is going to do it for me.”
Laila knows she could have continued deeper into addiction. Instead, she chose a different future. She chose to fight for her son. She chose recovery. She chose growth.
Today, she is learning something many of us spend a lifetime trying to master.
“I’m getting used to being uncomfortable now so I can be comfortable later.”
Laila arrived at OneHeart with a head start that many guests do not have. She came with momentum, self-awareness, and a willingness to do the difficult work required for lasting change.
Her story is still being written. But if her first few weeks are any indication, the next chapter is going to be remarkable.
