“Crotched Mountain saved my life.”

At the point in the conversation when Michelle made this statement, she had already wept twice. She was recounting the story of her life and, at times, the recall conjured waves of emotion. Some of these were tides of pain; others were memories of when people didn’t give up on her.

Hers is a story fraught with devastating loss, debilitating addiction, life-stealing incarceration, miraculous recovery, abuse, cancer, homelessness, and more. So much more—a litany of life experiences that would crush most people under the weight of diabolical circumstances.

But the same steely, relentless stubbornness that led her down a few too many regrettable paths also kept her afloat in the midst of one typhoon after another. That, and the happy accidents of the right people coming to support her at just the right time, echoing the same refrain:

“Michelle, what are we going to do with you?”

“Before I was 24 years old, I had buried three of my children,” Michelle says.

This unspeakable event became the flashpoint for a downward spiral that sucked Michelle into an emotional void she spent nearly her entire adult life trying to escape. The trauma of this loss led to a lifelong struggle with addiction and abuse—a shocking contrast to her previous life as a registered nurse. Seemingly every negative situation cascaded, compounding on each other until finally, it all came crashing down.

“Addiction was my way of keeping my heart from shattering every morning for the rest of my life,” she says. “I used substances to numb my heart pain, to dull it. And they took me right to the New Hampshire State Prison for Women.”

Which is where she stayed for just under a decade. And even after she left, she couldn’t shake her demons. She would be in and out of treatment centers, but eventually relapse and fall victim to her addiction once again.

It wasn’t until 2019 when she finally clawed out of this pit. She had entered an intensive transition/detox program, where she received the support she needed. It was an emotional breakthrough for her—the recounting of which brought her to tears—and provided the purchase she needed to help move past her grief and shake her addiction.

“Addiction was my way of keeping my heart from shattering every morning for the rest of my life. I used substances to numb my heart pain."

For the first time in over 20 years, she was clean.

But she was also homeless. And had been diagnosed with epilepsy as well as several other medically complex health ailments. It was truly one thing after the other.

She relied on the basements and couches of family members. At this point, she had joined CFI (Choices for Independence), the Medicaid program that supports lower-income adults with disabilities. Through CFI, she became a client of Crotched Mountain Community Care. Becky, her case manager, immediately knew the pressing issue: find Michelle safe, stable housing.

“Community Care is all about ensuring our clients can remain independent, in the community, and out of nursing homes,” said Kara Nickluas, Executive Director of Adult Services for Crotched Mountain Foundation. “Michelle’s chronic illness and mental health challenges made her a perfect fit for our services. In fact, we have seen more and more mental health needs in our clients year after year.”

Indeed, CMCC has followed Crotched Mountain Foundation’s ongoing focus to address the most pressing needs of the day. As chronic illness and mental health challenges escalate in New Hampshire, the CMCC crew has adapted to harness the resources and has received appropriate training (all case managers have been trained in mental health support) to better serve their clients.

“This is the reality of our client base,” Kara says. “They are getting younger and their needs are more complex. Thanks to our dedicated staff and the generosity from Crotched Mountain supporters, we have been able to work towards helping our clients live on their own and thrive in their communities.”

Just ask Michelle, who—thanks to the tireless work of Becky and Carol, her CMCC case managers—moved into her own apartment in May 2025 and received the community services to keep her stable and independent.

“They have been amazing,” Michelle says. “To finally be in my own studio apartment, I get emotional thinking about everything I had to do. I did the work. I did the time. I was patient. I didn’t give up.”

Michelle, what are we going to do with you?

Answer: Watch you succeed.