As a teenager, Mario began experimenting with drugs with friends. What started occasionally soon became a regular part of his life.
“At first the drug use was just on weekends,” he says. “Then it rolled into weekdays, and before I knew it, I was using every day.”
The partying lifestyle soon began to affect school, and eventually Mario dropped out.
“I was partying too much,” he says. “Drugs were getting in the way of everything.”
Years later, a motorcycle accident left him with a serious leg injury. After seeking medical care, he was prescribed Tylenol with codeine.
“That was the moment I first fell in love with opiates,” he says. “I remember thinking, why isn’t everybody taking this if it makes you feel this good?”
What began as pain management quickly turned into dependency.
Over time, Mario’s use escalated until he was taking 30 to 40 pills a day.
“I wasn’t chasing the high anymore,” he says. “I was just trying not to be sick.”
Addiction began affecting every part of his life. Holding a steady job became difficult, and everyday life revolved around avoiding the sickness that came when the drugs wore off.
“If I was withdrawing, I couldn’t go to work,” he explains.
The addiction also created distance between Mario and the people closest to him.
“I was ashamed,” he says. “I missed my mom’s birthday parties, avoided calls, and would have to lie about how I was. Deep down, I was falling apart.”
Eventually, he reached a breaking point.
“I told my wife, ‘I’m tired of living like this.”
Soon after, a friend mentioned methadone treatment, and Mario learned his insurance would cover it.
When Mario entered treatment at BAART Programs, his focus was simple.
“I just wanted my medication,” he admits.
But counseling soon became an important part of his recovery.
Methadone treatment provided the stability he needed to begin rebuilding his life.
“It let me go back to work and care for my family again,” he says.
Over time, something else began to change.
Watching the counselors work with patients inspired Mario to think about a different future for himself.
Watching counselors help patients inspired Mario to pursue a career doing the same.
He decided to go back to school.
But there was one major obstacle. He had never finished high school.
“I told them the truth,” he says. “I said I didn’t know how to read well and I didn’t know how to do math.”
Mario enrolled in a GED program and committed himself fully to learning. Instead of hiding his struggles, he was open about where he was starting.
“If I was vulnerable, people wanted to help,” he says.
After earning his GED, Mario continued his education and enrolled in college.
In 2025, Mario graduated with his associate’s degree in alcohol and drug counseling. A goal that once felt far out of reach had finally become reality.
Today, Mario works as a counselor at BAART Programs Van Ness, helping patients who are facing the same struggles he once experienced.
Through his work, Mario has come to understand something important about recovery.
“As counselors, we set the environment of the facility we work in,” he explains. “When patients walk through our doors, the environment here has to be better than the environment they’re coming from. If someone leaves chaos and walks into more chaos, then recovery can’t happen.”
For Mario, creating that supportive environment is part of his mission.
“My goal as a counselor is to shed light on recovery and show people that it is possible to live a life free from drugs and alcohol,” he says. “Even in the darkest moments, the light still shines, even when we can’t see it yet.”
He shares his story with patients who feel defeated or hopeless.
“Just like I recovered from addiction, they can too,” he says. “Methadone is a medication that can help people rebuild their lives when it’s used correctly.”
Mario’s story reflects the message he now lives by.
Even when we cannot see it, the light still shines in the darkness, and step by step, recovery reveals that light.
Because in life, all things are possible to anyone who believes.
“It’s always impossible—until it’s done.”
