Lewis County Person of The Week Jerrid Cowley, 37

This interview was so very special

to me, because I have been

friends with this man for a long,

long time. And because I have

been there and seen both sides of

him. I’ve seen him from the deepest

darkest struggles of active

addiction to the man he is today.

And I can truly say he should be

an inspiration to anyone that is

battling any type of addiction,

They really do recover!

I feel there is a need to showcase

the men and women who

have worked so hard to overcome

the deep, dark depression

of active addiction because

somewhere out there, there is

someone who’s struggling and

needs or wants the help and has

no clue where to start. If this

can help put them with the right

people or persons that can help

put them on the right path then I

would say that’s pretty amazing.

Hope you all enjoy reading

this as much as I enjoyed being

able to do it.

Q.) Can you tell me a little bit

about yourself?

A.) Well I was born and raised

here in Hohenwald, to a wonderful

family. I had a great home life. I

have always been very goal oriented.

I always had a heart for caring

for others when I was growing up,

and throughout my teenage years

I set my goals to a high standard

and I completed those.

Q.) Can you tell me some of

your favorite things about living

in Hohenwald?

A.) The people. Hohenwald is

a small town - everybody knows

everybody. If you are ever in

need of anything, regardless of

your situation, there is always

someone here to help you as long

as you reach out.

Q.) Do you have a childhood

memory you can share with our

readers?

A.) Going to Granny’s (Mary

Nell Carroll) every weekend or as

much as I could. I would be riding

four-wheelers, fi shing, camping

or just whatever. That was my goto

when I was a child (Granny’s)

if there was any problems or I

was telling on Momma or whoever,

I was going to Granny’s.

Q.) What did you want to be as

a kid? What did you actually become?

A.) As a kid growing up I always

wanted to be in healthcare,

and that’s what I did after high

school. I went to nursing school.

I completed and graduated and I

worked as a nurse until my life

took a turn for the worse.

Q.) Who is your biggest role

model?

A.) God! God is my biggest

role model today because He

saved me from the deep dark

hell I was living in. After all the

years of being successful, once I

found myself failing at life I became

addicted to drugs. He was

the only one that was able to be

there at all times and to pull me

through.

Q.) What do you enjoy most

about your job?

A.) Well my job that I have today

is a whole diff erent path, but

it is something I’ve always wanted

to do. Now through my addiction

and not being able to return

to nursing, I now work in manufacturing,

and it’s given me a

whole new outlook on life. It’s

opened my eyes up to so many

new opportunities. Not only the

ones I had set as a child, but now

that I have proven to myself that

I can care for people in a whole

diff erent way that doesn’t involve

medications to be given.

And I know that I can still continue

to help and do things for

the public and people.

Q.) Do you have a favorite hobby?

How do you like to spend

your free time?

A.) Well today my hobbies

look way diff erent than they did

14 months ago. Now I pray, exercise,

go to meetings, spend a lot

of time with people in the recovery

community. I’ve had to replace

my bad hobbies with good

hobbies and healthy habits.

Q.) What is your favorite time

of year? Why?

A.) Summer time, because I

love anything outside and the

water. I just feel so much better

when it’s a beautiful day and I

can be outside or on the water.

Q.) If you had the chance to

travel anywhere in or out of the

states where would it be? Why?

A.) Throughout my life I’ve

always had a bucket list and

before addiction I had pretty

much completed it. There’s one

thing that I wasn’t able to fulfi ll

and that was going to Hawaii.

It’s such a beautiful place and I

think it would be a beautiful experience.

Q.) Do you have a nickname?

A.) I do. It was given to me

by my grandfather (Clovis Carroll)

when I was little because I

used to crawl around with a rattler

on the fl oor. The nickname

(SNAKE ) stuck, I think I’ve only

heard him call me Jerrid twice

in my life.

Q.) Do you have a favorite 80’s

or 90’s jam? Or a favorite type of

music?

A.) Well I love country music,

some pop music. I can relate to

so many songs that are written

from the heart and true life experiences

and real struggles in

life.

I also listen to Christian music

and worship music. It really

helps to pull me out of a dark

place when I need it to. I can listen

to some worship music and

become fi lled with so much happiness

and joy for what God has

done for me.

Q.) Let’s say you’re a new addition

to the crayon box. What

color would you be? Why?

A.) I would have to say rainbow

because a rainbow has so

many beautiful vibrant colors,

considering my life has been

an example of every color. Today

as I continue to strive in the

right direction, my life has went

from the darkest of colors to the

brightest of colors just like a

rainbow.

Q.) Can you tell our readers

a little about this past year and

share some of your experiences.

A.) This last year has been very

diffi cult but very, rewarding. On

March 3, 2022 I was arrested and

served a couple months in jail. That

was the turning point in my life. I

was addicted to meth and heroin.

Thanks to Judgge Mike Hinson, my

family and Hope Center Ministries

for assisting in saving my life. I was

stuck in jail with a bond so high

there was no way I could bond out.

So I took to praying to God for answers

for the next steps. God put it

on my heart to reach out for rehab

and for the help I needed. The Hope

Center Ministries admissions coordinator

got me a bed in the Dickson

center. I knew from the time I

walked through the doors I was going

to do it. I knew I would complete

it, there was no doubt in my mind.

I knew I had to do it fi rst for myself,

my family and everyone in and

around my life.

It’s a very humbling experience,

it showed me that there are so many

people going through the same

struggles as I do. People always set

out to determine their clean time

but whether you have 14 months

like I do, or one day, the fi rst one

that gets up in the morning has the

most clean time, because we are all

one bad decision away from messing

up. While I have always believed in

God, the Hope Center, being a faith

based program, helped open my

eyes up to a God of my understanding,

and without Him I couldn’t have

done any of this. My family was very

faithful with coming to see me, and

helping me through that. The Hope

Center also allowed me to humble

myself, to take all the negatives

and turn them into positive things,

regardless of the situations. They

have allowed me to gain responsibility.

I went from living in trap

houses with no money and being

120 pounds soaking wet with everything

about my physical appearance

demolished, and everything about

my family relationships demolished

to now I have family restoration, a

vehicle, and a 40 hour a week job at

Lee Company in Nashville. I have

my health back. I have everything

back that I asked God to restore in

my life.

Now I have to continue to put

one foot in front of the other, do

what I know to do, stay away

from the old people, places and

things and continue to do the

right thing even when no one is

watching, because My God is always

watching.

Q.) Have you set new goals for

yourself? If so can you share a

few of them with our readers?

A.) I don’t set goals. I’ve

learned if I think about my past,

I can’t set goals today. If I think

about my future, my goals are

I can live one day at a time, set

a goal for the day. So when my

feet hit the fl oor, I set a goal for

that day and that day only, because

that’s all I can accomplish

because we are promised today,

not tomorrow. We all want to set

goals but when you are recovering

from addiction you learn we

can only live for today, we’re not

promised tomorrow.

Q.) What has been some of

your main challenges during

your stay at Hope Center Ministries?

A.) I would have to say adjusting

to having other people around me.

You take 35 guys and put them in

one house, there are so many different

personalities, behaviors and

problems. I couldn’t see God working

in my life in the beginning, but

I could see Him working in others.

When I started doing the work as

hard and the best I could after a

few months of being there, I could

see God working in my life. He gave

me the ability to watch Him work

through not only myself but some

new and old friends. Hope Center

itself wasn’t hard, it’s only hard if

you make it hard. The hardest part

was knowing that life goes on even

if you’re in there or not. Now that

I’m out I’m no longer in that bubble,

so I have to take everything I have

learned this past year to keep me

grounded.

Q.) If you could give life advice to

our readers, what would it be?

A.) Don’t think with a closed

mind. If you see someone that is

struggling, you can’t change someone’s

way of life - they can only

change when they are ready. So just

reach out and help those that are

unable to help themselves. Always

be faithful to the God of your understanding.

Do unto others as you

have done to you. Also if someone

out there is struggling, there is a

better way of life, you just have to

put one foot in front of the other and

reach out. There’s help for you if you

are ready to receive it.

Q.) Is there anything you

would like to add that my questions

may not have touched on?

A.) I think it’s a beautiful thing

that 14 months ago I had been in

the Lewis County Herald for being

busted for fentanyl in the police

report, but today I’ve been given

the opportunity to be the person

of the week for Lewis County and

what a blessing it is not only to

me but God and my family. It has

made my day, my week and my

year, makes me see how far I’ve

come from where I was.

And again if you need help

reach out, no one will judge you,

no questions asked. Just take

that fi rst step and reach out. I

did and I never thought I would

ever be able to live sober again,

but I can and I am. I’m so thankful

that God wasn’t done with me

yet.