MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — The pressures that U.S. military families face aren’t easy. Corey Atiles, a mother of two, said she was diagnosed with post-partum depression and anxiety, after her son Raphael was born about four years ago.
After her daughter was born nearly two years ago, Atiles was also diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse consequences.
After a move from Oregon to Miami-Dade County, where there is a shortage of housing for military families, Atiles said she started to drink alcohol “to cope” with the stress and eventually became “a binge” drinker.
“It was every time that I started drinking,” Atiles said. “I would black out.”
Atiles said her mother in law moved in with them to help support them. Atiles said she left her home to get sober and undergo treatment for the first time in March 2024.
“I had no contact with my kids for two months,” Atiles said.
There was a relapse, which occurs in almost one-third of recovering alcoholics during their first year of sobriety. Atiles needed to undergo treatment again.
“Children services came and said, ‘You can’t be in the home anymore,’” Atiles said.
ChildNet, a nonprofit organization that focuses on child safety during situations of child neglect or child abuse, intervened to help Atiles, her husband, and her children.
The organization provided daycare, parenting classes, and even specialized care for little Raphael’s challenges with speech delay. Larry Ryan, the chief executive officer and president of ChildNet, was proud of them.
“We want people to be aware and not be worried or nervous if they see abuse or fear abuse because this story shows that really good can come,” Ryan said.
Atiles completed her second treatment and returned home. She said it was like re-birth, and her way of life now includes working a support program.
“I don’t have that anxiety. I have a lot of peace. I have a lot of calm. I don’t have resentments I don’t feel ashamed about what I did,” Atiles said about the results of asking for help and committing to a solution.
After the experience with treatment, Atiles said she wants to make sure that others know there is hope after asking for help and taking action, because isolation isn’t helpful.
“I do a daily gratitude list. I pray to God every day. I journal. I have a sponsee, I have a sponsor, so you know, I stay really in my program,” Atiles said about some of the actions she takes to maintain her sobriety “One Day at a Time.”
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