Editor’s Note: September is National Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Month. To celebrate the success of treatment and recovery programs, and to inspire people struggling with substance abuse and addiction, a dozen Mainers agreed to share their personal stories. Today’s three profiles conclude the “Recovery Works” series. The weekly “Finding a Fix” column resumes Oct. 5.

John Stillings has been at the Day One residential treatment program in Hollis for about eight months now. At 19, he has got a lot of history to sort through, including his role in a tragic 2004 car accident that claimed the life of a young friend in his hometown of Glenburn.

“If I went back to drinking now, it would be like slapping my friend in the face,” he said. “I also realized that if I didn’t get my life together, I was looking at spending a long time in institutions. There was just no hope if I didn’t get sober.”

John started using young, and is trying to catch up with fundamental life lessons he missed. “When you start using drugs at a young age, you don’t really mature,” he said. “Responsibility, reasoning skills, basic stuff; it’s like a whole life packed into a year here.”

He misses his family; his parents did everything they could to intervene in his drug use, and they have given him unconditional support since he has been in treatment. He would prefer to live near them when he leaves Day One but plans instead to stay in Portland to be part of the strong community of young people in recovery there. “I don’t really know anyone my age in recovery up in Bangor,” he said. “Everyone I know there is still using.”