About
A personal work, rooted in grief, survival, and love
A Promise to Give Everyone the Same Opportunity
Before there was a nonprofit, there was me—struggling with my own drug use, bad decisions disconnected, not fully understanding how close I was to losing everything. I grew up with two brothers, Andrew and Matt, who meant the world to me. While I was in rehab trying to get my life back together, my world shattered twice. My brother Andrew died from a fentanyl overdose. Not long after, my brother Matt drowned in a river while intoxicated. Losing both of them while I was learning my own mind and my own direction in the world was really the driving factor in the beginning of this work.
After Matt’s death, something shifted. The chaos turned into clarity. I made a commitment—not just to stay on the right path as much as I can, but to dedicate my life to helping others navigate substance use, recovery, and the systems that so often fail them. I did not know that full extent at that moment but I knew I wanted to help people. For the first time, I felt a sense of purpose and direction. A M Connections is named after my brothers—Andrew and Matt—because this work carries their memory forward to help others have a chance who are seeking it.
I completed my undergraduate degree and began working in a treatment center. That’s where I saw the truth clearly: people with money had access to high-quality treatment, real community, and long-term support. People without it were pushed into underfunded programs, isolated care, or no care at all. Recovery wasn’t just about willingness—it was about access.
Building A M Connections
As I grew as a helper, I applied to graduate programs and was accepted into Columbia University’s School of Social Work. There, I learned how powerful a social work degree could be—not just in individual healing, but in systems change. During my master’s program, I worked in places like Crossroads, and Horizon Juvenile Detention Center. Over and over, I saw people struggling with substance use and trauma who never truly had a chance—people who didn’t fully understand the systems they were trapped in, let alone how to escape them legally.
Throughout my master’s program, I began building what would become A M Connections. While completing my clinical training, I intentionally focused my coursework on grant writing, nonprofit development, budgeting, and organizational leadership. I spent over a year researching, making countless phone calls, meeting with mentors, and learning how to turn vision into structure. At 24 years old, with six months left in my program, I officially obtained our EIN—bringing A M Connections to life.
AM Connections Today
Today, A M Connections exists to do exactly what I promised I would do: help willing people—especially those from marginalized, under-resourced communities—access quality substance use treatment and real recovery communities. A places where people do not suffer the lose of their own. We remove financial barriers, walk with people from the first moment of willingness through treatment and aftercare, and stay until recovery feels possible in real life.
This work is personal. It is rooted in grief, survival, and love. And it is driven by the belief that recovery begins with community—and no one should be denied that opportunity because we are all in this together.