Courtesy of West Virginia University Reed College of Media Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 Multimedia Storytelling students

The Beauty of Hope

Donna Bishop works for Prestera Center in Wayne County as a recovery coach. She shares her experience recovering from 25 years of addiction with her clients and assists them in their recovery.

When Bishop was 37 and on the verge of suicide, she finally got the help she needed. Today, she says she was probably born an addict. Born to parents, who struggled with alcoholism, she was one of 12 children of whom she says at least half have struggled with serious depression and addiction.

When her husband passed away in 2017, and she did not turn to drugs or alcohol, Bishop said she knew it was a big milestone in her recovery.

She loves helping people find the healing she has found. She describes the process of seeing people begin to have hope and believe they can live differently as “beautiful.”