When Kimberly Villegas was just 11 years old, she began a dark journey into drug addiction. She survived, found sobriety, and will soon become the first in her family to graduate from college.
Now, the Maui resident is helping others out of addiction.
“I come from a lineage of alcoholics and addicts," she said. "Ho, I going cry. I wasn’t given the opportunity to learn the basics of life.”
She struggled for decades with alcohol and drug abuse, a cocaine addiction, and also endured sexual abuse. She spent time in and out of prison, being sent to Kentucky to serve time.
“I started using, I started drinking and using drugs at a young age, I started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana when I was 11," Villegas recalled. "And that was going on for a while. I had my first baby at 14.”
Villegas met her infant grandson for the first time 15 years ago in a parking lot while she was on work furlough. That was a decisive moment for her, giving her the motivation to work on turning her life around.
The journey wasn’t easy. But now, as a 52-year-old grandmother, she has been clean for seven years. She became a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor through the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.
Villegas works as a substance abuse counselor at Maui Behavioral Health Resources’ Aloha House. She’ll receive her associate’s degree in May, with the goal of getting her bachelor’s and working in the prison system.
“A helping professional oftentimes comes from a place of disadvantage where they had their own unique struggles personally in this world," Charlie Schlather, a UH Maui College associate professor, said.
"And she's been able to rise above it and contribute to our community in ways that are really beneficial.”
For Villegas, coming full circle is a chance to show others they can do it too.
“From a substance abuse user to a substance abuse counselor is so rewarding today," she said. "I can show people it is possible to make a difference, and not continue the vicious cycle of substance abuse.”
