Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Malone.
Hi Taylor, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My addiction started when I was in middle school. I was sexually assaulted by someone who I knew very well. To hide the hurt, I started using Xanax. I quickly got hooked and started exploring deeper and deeper into stronger pills.
By the time I got to high school, I was known as the “party girl” and that name quickly got me in with some of the “cool” crowds. I quickly grew deeper into addiction and would try any drug I was presented with.
I found myself in trouble several times with the law and ended up on probation my senior year of high school, which I would remain on for the next several years. After graduation, my drug of choice grew to cocaine and IV drugs. I was selling large quantities of drugs in order to sleep on the couch at a trap house as I had become homeless and lost everything and everyone I loved.
I was in and out of jail for a year and a half until I finally went into treatment. I almost died in detox and that still didn’t stop me from going back out and using again. Finally, I was looking at some serious prison time and my probation officer told me this was it, get sober or live a life in prison. I went back into rehab on December 22, 2012, and it was the thing that saved my life.
I developed all kinds of life skills and a relationship with God. Now here we are almost 10 years later and I have 3 beautiful children, a wonderful husband, own a home, and a nice car. I have the life I always dreamed of. I have a job I love as I get to work as the Case Manager at The Emmanuel House in Carthage, Tennessee. We are a transitional living facility for women and children.
So I get to pour into the lives of women every day who are overcoming addiction and help them go through what I did. Nothing feels better than giving back, I have no doubt this is my purpose in life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing about it has been smooth. It has been the hardest road I have ever been on but also the most rewarding. I have had to start my life completely over at 20 years old with absolutely nothing to get to where I am today.
I knew that was necessary though to be successful as I could not return to my hometown of Hendersonville. I still face judgment from people who don’t know the “new” me only the “old” me when they hear I work at a transitional living facility.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started working as a Case Manager at The Emmanuel House in June of 2021. I get to interact and manage direct care with all the women in our facility.
I get to help set them up with resources to make them successful and in some cases, I get to take on the roles of the resource to help make them successful. I am their number 1 cheerleader and support. I get to watch women get their children back, get their license back, buy vehicles, get employment and maintain it, pay off fines and even some get off of probation! I get to witness miracles every day.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I started my job when the restrictions surrounding this kind of “loosened “ but I have learned how much this whole pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health!
Contact Info:
- Email: Taylor.leanne19@yahoo.com
- Website: Www.theemmanuelhouse.org
