Showing results by author "Jordan P. Barnes" in All Categories

At the age of 24, Jordan Barnes woke up next to a lifeless body, rifled through his dead friends’ pockets for any remaining heroin, and went right back to using. Strung out and homeless during the supposed best years of his life, there was no clear way out of the opioid crisis ravaging the streets of Portland, Oregon. But though Jordan had long accepted his fate, his parents still held out hope and would do everything in their power to get him the help he so desperately needed.

Award-winning author and recovery advocate Jordan P. Barnes reflects on his decade-long journey navigating a life in long-term recovery from all mind and mood-altering substances. Having distanced himself from a hopeless condition of body, mind, and spirit, Barnes spent the better part of the past ten years navigating the traditional twelve steps and fine-tuned what worked best for him in his personal program of recovery.

Seven years after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Avery West agonizes over the reality that his time at the Hawai`i State Hospital is ending. He can’t imagine a life beyond the confines of his psychiatric facility, even if his schizophrenic symptoms are finally in remission. But having spent most of his adult life surviving with mental illness, he has found stability and is terrified of losing everything he’s fought for. Yet despite his reservations, Avery’s treatment team insists he’s ready to move on with his life.

Harm reductionist Harley Hammond manages a dedicated team at the Bridgeworks Syringe Access Program in the heart of Portland, Oregon. Known as a pillar of compassion and hope, she fights for the rights and well-being of people who use drugs. When a torrent of fentanyl-laced heroin floods a city already crippled by the failed War on Drugs, overdose preventions are overwhelmed and the Bridgeworks team rushes to put life-saving supplies into the hands of those who need them most.

When an asteroid strike decimates the country, Cora Wilder and her family flee aboard their 32-foot sailboat, seeking refuge from the fallout on the open water. But during a fateful trip ashore, the unthinkable happens when a ruthless gang kidnaps her sister, leaving Cora and her father grappling with an impossible choice: stay together for safety, or split up to cover more ground. In a moment that will forever define their lives, the decision is made—he'll scour the shoreline aboard their sailboat, while she heads inland on foot, determined to save her sister...or die trying.