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| Nicole-Raye Ellis |
Nicole
Ellis was hired on Wednesday, October 3 as the new Project Coordinator for Be
The Influence Coalition – an organization with the mission to promote community
collaboration and positive choices in reducing youth substance use in Windham
and Raymond.
Although
Ellis holds associate degrees in both liberal studies and education from
Southern Maine Community College, graduating in the top ten percent of her class
and was a member and Vice President of Service with Phi Theta Kappa, the real contributing
factor to her new role as Project Coordinator is her personal experiences that
Be The Influence relies upon to encourage local youth to make wise decisions.
Ellis,
a 2006 graduate from Gorham High School, knows all too well about how life’s
adversities make choosing the path of mind-altering substances a way to escape
and deal with the many harsh realities that come our way. “Although it is true
that I was experimenting with various drugs and alcohol in my early teens, it
was the result of being prescribed pain medication after a serious car accident
that began my downward spiral at the age of 15,” Ellis explained. “It’s where
my addiction began. Because I was feeling the regular teenage emotions combined
with my family history of alcohol and drug abuse, I became addicted. I look
back now and wonder why the medical professionals didn’t take a closer look at
my family’s history with addiction before prescribing them to me.”
According
to the Mayo Clinic, “Opioid painkillers are highly addictive. After just five
days of prescription opioid use, the likelihood that you'll develop long-term
dependence on these drugs rises steeply — increasing your risk of eventual
addiction and overdose.”
Ellis
explained that she was born into a family of substance abuse and alcoholism.
Having the genetic make up and being prescribed a highly addictive painkiller,
Ellis eventually fell into a crowd of friends who used and abused drugs which
lead to both overdose and death of those she loved dearly.
She explained about
her teenage experiences, “I witnessed many of my friends die from addiction. I
saw my friend who was much like a brother to me, die of an overdose. I also had
a few friends who died while drinking and driving,” she stated. This story does
not include her step-dad who also died while he was drinking and driving. “And
this is only the beginning and a snapshot of my young life,” Ellis reiterated.
Ellis
eventually left Maine for two years, spending a year in Florida and a year in
California before returning to her home state. Having some time away from her
friends plus the announcement her brother made that he was going to have a
daughter, Ellis made a conscious decision to move in a different direction. “I
wanted to be a part of my nieces’ life, but my brother disowned me due to my
life choices with drugs and alcohol, which I never blamed him for” Ellis
stated. “Having a niece was the motivation for me to become healthy.”
In
2010, Ellis checked herself into Mercy Rehab. “The year 2010 is a special year
for me. It is the year I became clean and the year my niece was born.”
As with
any change one makes in life, it was not an easy journey. “I was lonely for the
first four years after I became sober,” Ellis said. “I purposely chose not to
be with all the contacts I had before who might pull me back into that
lifestyle as well as any events that would remind me or had any association
with drug and alcohol use. The thing is, I still loved my friends and I missed
them a lot.”
She
sought out new friends who had no experience with drugs to not only help her
remain healthy but to see what life was like for those who didn’t participate
or had very little experiences with mind-altering substances. “I was curious,”
she said. “My experiences thus far had been so involved with nothing but drugs
and alcohol, I had to see for myself what the other side was like.”
By
choosing to take this path, she got to meet her daughter’s father who helped
her on the road to sobriety and continues to do so. Together, they gave life to
their daughter, Annabella, who was born in 2013. They continue to work jointly
to provide a wholesome and productive life for their daughter.
In
addition to the births of her niece and Annabella, another contributing factor
that turned Ellis’ life around was the decision to be of service to others. “I
began volunteering for organizations who help others such as Habitat for
Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House. Serving others was a real-life changer
for me and helped ease the pain of loneliness.”
Now,
Ellis’ focus is to help area youth learn from her life experiences and is one
of the reasons why the Director of Be The Influence, Laura Morris, chose Ellis
to fill the Project Coordinator position. “I chose Nicole
because of her passion from personal experience and understanding of addiction
and how it can ruin your life,” Morris began. “She saw this position as an
opportunity to share her story in hopes of helping others to make healthy
decisions. She is also the ying to my yang and able to help with some efforts
behind the scenes with accuracy and structure. This relates directly to our
mission and will definitely have a positive impact of the youth we serve.”
Together,
Ellis and Morris are working on a variety of innovative, fun and creative
efforts to adhere to the BTI mission and to invite local youth involvement. One
of those endeavors include creating a video.
“Right now, we have a Public Service Announcement video
contest established,” explained Ellis. “We are inviting all students ages 13 to
18 in the Windham and Raymond community to submit a one to two-minute video on
why it is important to be a positive influence in living a drug-free life.”
Ellis also explained that there will be chances to win first, second and third
place prizes that will be donated by local business. The prizes will be
announced soon.
For more information regarding other activities, projects
and the organization, explore the Be The Influence website at www.betheinfluencewrw.org
or contact Laura Morris at director@betheinfluencewrw.org.
Donations for the video contest can be directed to nicolerayeellis1227@gmail.com.
As
for Morris’ belief in Ellis’ contribution and fulfilling Be The Influence’s
mission, Morris had this to say, “She is going to rock
this – and blow it out of the water.”
