Sunshine Stories

Ryan Welch has watched Kensington change over nearly five decades. Now 47, Ryan was born and raised in the neighborhood, and remembers it being a close-knit, working-class...

Patty Kline used to be against the idea of “meeting people where they are.” Behavior like illicit drug use had to have consequences, she thought. If something was given to her, she...

As she approaches the one-year anniversary of her sobriety in March, Meghan marvels at how much her life has changed. She’d been consistently using addictive substances, including...

Mark calls Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) “my safe haven.” After years of substance use and uncertainty, Mark is finally addressing long-standing legal issues and, crucially...

Molly came from “a good family,” she says, and has a supportive lifelong relationship with her loving mother. Yet, she had a lot of anger issues when she was growing up, a problem...

In one of Ricky Austin’s earliest memories, he wakes up in his family’s Baltimore home and sees the adults in his life using illegal narcotics, “shooting drugs in their neck.” “I...

In the darkest days of Vincent LeCompte’s addiction, when family and friends distanced themselves, Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) provided him with food, clothing, medical...

Larry Colon was seven years old when he started smoking pot with his family because “they thought it was cute,” the Philadelphia native remembers. Surrounded by encouraging loved...

Cherry was featured in a Sunshine Story back in December 2023 , when she was still searching for a job. Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) is now proud to call her a staff member...

To mark Overdose Awareness Day 2024, read Devin's Sunshine Story by guest contributor Theo Fountain. This powerful story is unique, featuring a person in recovery from drug use...