Val grew up in Orange County CA as the fourth out of five children in her family. Facing many adversities in her life, Val states that her family was always rich with love. However, in order to cope with the many traumatic life events she experienced, she turned to substance. Val attempted to achieve sobriety multiple times throughout her life, particularly after the birth of her child, but unfortunately her disease had not yet been managed and eventually led to her incarceration. Eventually Val decided that enough was enough and she began dedicating her life to her recovery, and even began building a passion towards helping others do the same. Val has since gone to school for AOD’s, manages a sober living, and even worked for a period of time helping inmates at Donovan Prison. Currently Val is finishing her school to receive her AA, and hopes to one day become a Life Coach to continue with her passion of assisting others achieve their goals through her work.

First and foremost, I’ve been married to a wonderful woman, Lori, for about 23 years, and we have two awesome kids, Emily, 19, and Jonathan, 16 years old. We’ve lived in Chula Vista for 20 years but I grew up in Pacific Beach, actually lived my early teenage years about 4 blocks away from where the Detox is.

I was born in San Diego and have spent my life here. I dropped out of college very quickly after high school, and spent years running a business until I got the itch with home brewing to make beer professionally. So when Fall Brewing opened, I knew the guys doing it, and I followed my passion, learning the profession of brewing from the ground up. I spent the better part of a decade doing that until Covid hit and shut down the brewery I was working at, 32 North.

I’d known my drinking was a problem for a long time but felt even more stuck than I normally would due to the fact that it was how I fed my family. However, the covid shutdown gave me the out I needed to go to rehab, and July 27th 2020 was the last time I drank alcohol. After rehab, knowing there was no way I could go back to brewing, I spent time working in a warehouse and doing local deliveries while getting adjusted to my new life, and reached out to my good friend, Phil, who was in the process of completing the course at San Diego City College, on how I could get started on that path. I’m now in my fourth semester of school, and am working towards my AOD counselor certification. Currently, I’m stoked to be part of the Detox Center of San Diego team, putting the things I’m learning into action in my career. I feel drawn to helping people and am certain I’m on the right path in life right now. I have a ton of support from friends and family, and honestly when I step back, I can’t believe how lucky I am to have so much love in my life. I know that probably sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

I love kayaking, hiking, camping, bonfires, just being outdoors in general. On Tuesdays I have 2 hours between my morning class and afternoon shift, and you’ll always find me on my beach chair at different beaches or bayside spots eating my lunch during that break. I dig punk rock and love going to live music. Music has spoken to me through my life, and strengthens my sobriety. I’ve been a Padres fan through thick and thin, and really right now am focused on family, my sobriety program, school, work, and keeping the big picture of everything ahead of me moving towards a positive manner, and hopefully helping others do the same thing.