Origin Story
“This is my life’s purpose,” she says. “This is where my heart comes alive, where I need to be.” She is a peer recovery partner to women with substance use disorder who are pregnant, parenting, and seeking custody. Her work is informed by her own lived experience, but she does not assume to know her peers or their exact stories. She brings curiosity and interest to each individual mom’s situation as well as to the systems working to support them. She is a constant learner, currently finishing her Masters and parenting two children.
Our conversation occurred as we looked at a "Journey Map" inspired by the lives of those with pregnancy-associated death in Maine. The composite patient’s “journey” was created by the Maine Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Panel to humanize the study’s data.
Her work is hard. The outcome on the Journey Map is not unusual, she says. “This is not a unique case at all. It happens again and again.” It’s heartbreaking, but she stays in the work because she’ll “do anything to make [these moms] feel less alone.”
Julia McDonald, Listener Poet
September 2026
Preventable Permanency
By Julia McDonald, Listener Poet
You’ll never understand.
how I’m trying to change my whole life –
(learned patterns in a box defined
by child welfare and state workers)
(What’s seen from the outside
-relapses, no shows, rude interactions- doesn’t reveal
what’s been overcome,
what’s been done.)
The process is slow
What brought you to where you are?
You know exactly what I’m going through:
Slow movement, barriers, challenges!
They only see the fails.
What’s the point?
(This is how it ends)
Drug use is not a testament to
how much you (I/we) love your child
The battles get to be too much!
I am trying
(she’s trying)
to make ends meet
to get a ride
to put minutes on my phone
to get to my appointments
Running from point A to point B
(But for the grace of God…)
(The process takes so long)
I’ll do anything to make you feel less alone
(She is set up to fail)
I deserved the call
I deserved a check in
I was struggling
More could have been done
(This is how it ends)
We are all the same
Nothing’s wrong with you
This is how it ends
(I love my baby girl)
in this room, custody papers in hand.
She loved her baby girl.
He speaks with honesty, vulnerability, and raw emotion about where he has been, where he is, and where he wants to be. Our conversation is grounded in a "Journey Map" inspired by the lives of those with pregnancy-associated death in Maine.
She has worked in addiction medicine for 20 years. As we spoke, we reflected on a "Journey Map" inspired by the lives of those with pregnancy-associated death in Maine. The composite patient’s “journey” was created by the Maine Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Panel to humanize the study’s data.
“This is my life’s purpose,” she says. “This is where my heart comes alive, where I need to be.” She is a peer recovery partner to women with substance use disorder who are pregnant, parenting, and seeking custody.
