BREWER, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- People who know someone struggling with addiction got some useful advice at the Brewer Auditorium on Thursday. The Bangor Area Recovery Network held its 5th annual summit on addiction recovery. One of the people, who helped put on this event, knows the dangers of addiction.

"It was the last two years of the use, the drugs, the alcohol, those last two years I spent almost on a daily basis wishing and saying to myself I don't want to use today and by the end of the day I was toast, it was done. I had already lost the battle," Joanna Russell Bangor Area Recovering Community Coalition Chairperson said.

Russell is not only the chairperson for the Bangor Area Recovering Community Coalition; she is also recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. She started her recovery 24 years ago and can point back to one moment when it was time for her to get help.

"I was looking at my full drink and I was like, holly smokes I already have a full drink and now I'm thinking about getting up and making another one. It was like there was never enough," Russell said.

Now that Russell is sober she is in the business of helping others.

"I needed to connect up with community because that's who I am. I love to be a part of my community," Russell said.

Russell helped put on the summit. Part of it is showing what help is available for people. One of the workshops dealt with resume and interview tips. The advice, when filling out an application and during an interview, is be honest.

Joanna went back to school and is proof that recovery can work.

"I went to college and I learned that actually there was a career I wanted to get involved with and it was career development," Russell said.

NEWS CENTER