Making an impact on lives is not easy to do, especially when dealing with adolescents and adults suffering from addiction who tend to not like someone constantly staying on them about getting clean and sober.
As a drug counselor and ear to those who have been or currently are knee-deep in addiction, Jared Sloan, counselor with the Community Drug Coalition (CDC) has provided an outlet for hundreds, if not thousands of addicts throughout Lea County and surrounding areas.
Sloan has worked as a drug counselor for various programs throughout the community since the age of 18 and got his start as a drug counselor for Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP) in Hobbs where he worked for 15 years. Sloan later moved onto working in a more private sector taking care of DOT compliance work and then moved onto working with the CDC.
“PDAP’s a great organization,” Sloan said. “I think that every community could benefit from a PDAP. I think PDAP offers this community a much needed resource.”
Stewart Sroufe, close friend to Jared ,told the News-Sun Sloan has been a huge asset to their program and has been a driving force for many individuals to get clean and sober.
“He’s dedicated his life since he was 18 years of age to dealing with young people and parents who suffer from substance use disorders,” Sroufe said. “He has worked with our younger age program, ages 13-17 and older group ages 18 and up as well as parents. He’s a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) which is one of very few in the state of New Mexico.”
Though Sloan won’t admit to it, his accomplishments are many. Sloan has certifications in Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling (CADAC); Licensed Alcohol Drug Abuse Counseling (LADAC); Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling (ICADC); Substance Abuse Professional (SAP); Certified Substance Abuse Program Administrator (CSAPA); and Nationally Certified Alcohol Addiction Counselor Level I.
Previous clients have spoken to the wonders Sloan has done in their lives and by his help today, they are now clean, sober and productive members of the community living completely different lives than they were long ago.
“I cannot stress to you enough what Jared has done for me,” a former opioid addict and client of Sloan’s stated. “I was 15 when I started seeing him and he helped hold me accountable for the problems I was having. At the time I met Jared I was on probation. My parents contacted him because they were at their wit’s end with me and really didn’t know what to do. I was in and out of trouble, got caught selling drugs at school and was kind of just on this downward spiral. By me seeing him at least once to twice a week he didn’t just baby me through bettering my life by telling me everything was going to be okay, he was stern with me like a parent would be. He told me I needed to quit doing ‘dumb (expletive)’ or I was only going to continue getting myself into trouble. He had me become involved in the program, introduced me to other kids who had the same problems as I did and showed me that despite the chaos that was going on in my life, there was a place I could turn to and people would always be there to support me. Jared showed me my parents weren’t my enemy at that time. I was my own worst enemy and I needed to acknowledge that.”
What makes Sloan stand out from most counselors is his ability to not stop at just helping a person get clean and sober. Sloan goes above and beyond for many individuals who suffer from addiction and makes it a point to hold those persons accountable for their mistakes and work towards learning from their mistakes and doing better.
As an addition to all of Sloan’s accomplishments, he will be heading a new program at the CDC known as Herstel Ranch.
This program is an intensive outpatient program that meets twice a week for 12-16 week sessions based on the needs of the individual.
