“Before moving to the Upper Valley, it was a really difficult time for me. My mom and my brother died three months apart. Because of those and some other losses, I turned to substances. Those substances worked until they did not work.
I believe the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is community. And through community, we get sober. That is really what I am super passionate about. How do we thrive? How are we good neighbors to each other? If I know my neighbors and I bake them bread every couple of months, I am checking in on them and they are checking in on me. That creates a synergy in the community that was not there before. I have literally learned how to bake bread because I wanted to connect with more people.
I have worked in nonprofit all my life. One of the most impactful roles I had was at the Upper Valley Haven. I worked for them for almost five years in different capacities, but mainly looking at how people view poverty and food. What does nourishing food mean to people? What does it take to be resilient? What does it take to work through a challenge and addiction?
I am bringing all this experience into my role at the Lebanon Opera House. I work in community engagement design. We have partnerships with WISE and Headrest and Special Needs Support Center and Spark! All of these organizations are doing really excellent work. We draw from their expertise, so I can lean on the excellence that they bring to the community.
I also do court diversion, which is restorative justice. It is a way for people who just need a second chance to avoid the judicial system and repair the harm in a more cooperative and therapeutic way. It is not a perfect science, but it gives a young person another chance.
I was recently reading this book, and it was saying we have two ways of going about life. We can either build our resume or we can build what would one day be said in our eulogy. I do not think about dying, but I want to be building up my eulogy.
For me, building up my eulogy means investing in people like me, investing in other women and working so that anyone can have a second chance.”
- Kristen Coats, Lebanon, NH
