Finding My Way Back: Savannah's Story

Everyone has a story, but Savannah Cargill’s is more unique than most. As she oversees the teens at Viveri Youth services, she is surrounded by struggling boys and girls that had the same addictions as she.

Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Savannah was exposed to drugs and alcohol at a young age. As the years flew by, her parents divorced, and Savannah was in charge of raising both herself and her sister. The stress and temptation got to her, and at 12, she was regularly drinking. In just a few years, she was hooked on methamphetamine and cocaine, and was expelled from school. 

Life was difficult, but Savannah struggled to find a way out. She moved in with her drug dealer and after two arrests that involved her drinking, she received her third when she crashed her car on the highway. It was completely totaled, but Savannah walked away unharmed—but she doesn’t remember any of it.

“People tell me what happened, but I don’t remember a thing,” she says. “It’s scary to think of how much I missed.”

A few weeks later, she found herself with nowhere to go and out of desperation, she went to a place in Texas that offered a live-in substance abuse program. Still, she wasn’t that committed. “I was introduced to recovery,” she remembers, “ but I didn’t really know what it meant to be in recovery. I wondered, how could I really stop drinking and using drugs?”

Savannah continued to use and left the program, thinking that everything was okay because she was still able maintain her job and her car. But soon, she decided she didn’t need her job and found herself with no money, and no real prospects of supporting herself.

“I was completely hopeless and desperate,” Savannah reflects, “no one else had any hope and faith in me either. My family didn’t know what to do.”

And neither did Savannah. Finally, out of desperation, she chose another sober living facility and started her rehabilitation.

Today, Savannah is happy and healthy. She frequently attends her meetings and is committed to staying sober. She is a manager at the first rehabilitation center she tried, waits tables at Olive Garden, and has an incredible relationship with her family. She loves sharing her life with them. After everything that she's gone through, working with the youth at Viveri is something that she feels she can really understand.

“I love being with the kids. I get it, I understand them. I was there just a few years ago, I didn’t realize how important that time of my life was.

“Yes, there are times that I wish I could have done things differently—but then I wouldn’t be who I am today. I want to be that support and guidance for the kids. It’s so nice to finally respect and love myself, and I truly think the only way I’ll really stay clean is to help other people.”