Recovery Month is just about over but there’s no shortage of stories of recovery to tell in North Dakota.

“My life was filled fear… and terror and impending doom and calamity,” says Gunner Hart.

Growing up, Gunner Hart’s parents struggled with substance abuse so he was raised by his grandma. Struggling to feel like he fits in, Hart started drinking and using drugs when he was 14-year-old to deal with life, he says, “I just felt like I was different. I felt just uncomfortable knowing I didn’t have that mom and dad relationship.”

By age 19, He began getting arrested and sent to treatment multiple times. It took losing everything before getting sober at age 22.

Shortly after, he was accepted into a sober living home in Bismarck. It was there where he learned a new way of life and found real joy. “There’s so much hope and joy and love you know. It’s absolutely amazing,” Hart says.

And he says he gets emotional talking about his friends in recovery today, “and it’s because I’ve never met some more true honest and loving people.”

Mentoring other men, prayer, and accountability are all ways he maintains healthy recovery today.

He considers Hope Manor Sober Living Home the biggest influence in his recovery. They introduced him to the 12-step recovery model. He says it was a safe place to lay his head at night with like-minded people.