Patrick grew up in a middle suburban town in Boston called West Roxbury. Patrick’s parents were committed to raising him with both morals and values, and as a child Patrick was given every opportunity to succeed. From 1997-2001 he attended Xaverian Brothers High School and upon graduation was accepted to and later graduated from Suffolk University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.
During both his junior and senior year at Suffolk, Patrick began experimenting with both drugs and alcohol. Patrick looks at the night of his graduation party as a turning point in his addiction, where on this night, Patrick made the near fatal mistake of trying Oxycontin for the first time. One year later, Patrick found himself homeless in the Boston Massachusetts area addicted to intravenous heroin. Patrick sought out treatment while homeless and over the next 5 years would find himself admitted to almost every treatment center in the greater Massachusetts area.
2005 would be the year that Patrick finally hit rock bottom and became willing to accept help and a new way of life. With over 14 years of sobriety Patrick has been on the forefront of the fight against substance misuse and the national opioid crisis. Beginning with his work as a Recovery Specialist with Spectrum Health Systems Patrick found his true passion and purpose in helping others navigate treatment options. In 2013 Patrick left his full time work in the mutual fund industry to pursue his dream of helping others as a full time career. Patrick accepted an offer from MOAR (Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery) to become their Program Coordinator.
Today Patrick uses his 14 years in recovery to speak about addiction and recovery on a nationwide level which includes testimonies at the State House to address public policy and national recovery events. Patrick has also had the privilege to incorporate sharing his recovery story into a prevention/awareness program that is highly praised and utilized within the New England school system, called “No First Time”. This presentation has begun to receive national recognition and has been featured in many media outlets. Patrick has spoken in over 50 schools in the past 3 years.. Additionally, Patrick had the opportunity to join forces with Learn To Cope, a Non-Profit parent support group in 2012 to start a support meeting in Cambridge, MA which has now blossomed to be the top parent support group in Massachusetts. He was the first person in recovery to become a meeting facilitator for the parent support group.
Patrick was nominated in 2014 for “Advocate of the Year” by Young People in Recovery, a national organization. He is also became a certified Recovery Coach in 2014 by the Department of Public Health. In 2015 Patrick was hand-picked to be the face of recovery by Governor Charlie Baker in his statewide campaign, #StateWithoutStigma, which included billboards and radio commercials throughout the state of Massachusetts. He appeared on over 75 billboards across all communities showing that recovery works!
Patrick was presented with an opportunity in March of 2016 to help start Northeast Addictions Treatment Center in Quincy, MA where he originally got sober. He feels like he owes his life to the Quincy community, so he joined forces with NEATC and became their Director of Business Development. This was always a dream for Patrick to be part of creating another treatment option for people like himself to get help. He never thought it would be in his own backyard where he got sober, but that vision became a reality 3 plus years ago. Patrick continues to be one of the top advocates not only in MA but nationwide. He continues to publicly speak locally and nationally on addiction and recovery every day. Patrick also continues to speak in schools to students on the dangers of addiction. He always says, “talking to students is the most rewarding piece of my recovery”.
