Staff Highlight

“My Eyes Were Opened to See the Glory of the Lord”

Long-time pillar of local recovery community joins mission at Emerge

XENIA — Describing her life in addiction as a slow, downward spiral into darkness that ended with a painful rock bottom on the streets — Nichole Worthington, 36, of Xenia, said the life she leads today is a far cry from that nightmare. 

“My sobriety date is Jan. 12, 2014,” Worthington said. “So, I just celebrated 10 years of recovery. At times, it seems like a fairy tale. The life I have today is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Going from homeless and helpless — a life of crime, promiscuity, drugs and manipulation — to using my story for God’s glory today!”

Nichole also said she is passionate about the line of work she’s in, as the new head of the peer support program at Emerge, because she gets tremendous joy from using her past to help others turn their lives around.

“My husband, Phil, and I have four children, all boys,” she said. “We met in early recovery. He’s a coach and works with youth in various sports programs in Xenia. He also works for Emerge Commerce Center. We both work 12 step programs, and we are also longtime members of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Xenia.”

Worthington said her motto is: If you’re trying, you’re dying. Just do it!

“I do my best not to allow myself to give in,” she said. “My pastor at Lighthouse says if you’re going to fail, fail falling forward. I do my best to live that.”

Worthington said she started using marijuana and alcohol when she was 9 years old. Her mother introduced her to drugs and alcohol, which started a downward spiral that ended at the age of 26.

“My story involves jails, institutions and death,” she said. “God definitely delivered me; it wasn’t until He was all I had left that I began to create a new life for myself.”

During her first few months of recovery, Worthington said she was homeless.

“I lived at the Red Door winter homeless shelter in Xenia right behind the library for about two and a half months,” she said. “I worked. I got a job. I attended every meeting I possibly could attend, which is where I met my husband. He was a huge support for me and taught me to love myself.”

Prior to getting clean, Worthington said she went to Women’s Recovery Center multiple times.

In 2012, she said, she was kicked out. Then, in 2013 she graduated but ended up relapsing and getting kicked out of CAP housing. At that time, she said she lost custody of her oldest two children. That was the last six months of her addiction.

“I hit my knees one day, sober, and surrendered,” she said. “I had burned all my bridges. There weren’t anymore couches to sleep on or abandoned houses to sleep in. The homeless shelter was the best thing that happened to me. . . 

“My eyes were finally opened to see the glory of God.”

As if a lightbulb went off, Worthington realized that she could change her life if she stepped into a relationship with God. This pivotal shift, she said, changed everything. 

“I began to see that I was no longer the victim but that I could live in victory by taking responsibility for the choices that I had made,” she said. “I had to stop pointing the finger. I had to be honest with myself. Once I started taking responsibility and stopped blaming everyone for the reason my life turned out the way that it did, that’s when my eyes were opened, and I could take the steps forward to change.”

In the meantime, she said God continued putting people in her life to show me his love and his grace. 

“I went with it!” she said. “I became obedient to what he what he put in my life because I learned obedience brings blessings.”

Worthington said her mentor, Marisa Johnson of Beavercreek, was also a huge blessing.

“I got involved in the AWANA Program,” she said. “God used my past to bring me closer to Him. I was also on the board at Sober Lotus at one point.”

When asked to describe how her life is today, Worthington said:

“It’s like night and day,” she said. “I have compassion today. I never used to have compassion. I only cared about myself in the past. Today, I care about others and I have joy.”

Soon, she said she was able to get custody of her two older children and she and husband Phil had two additional children. Today, they have four boys.

“Just being able to use my lived experience as someone else’s recovery process is such a blessing,” she said. “I have a working relationship with God. People trust me with money and their kids. I was once very untrustworthy. Today, I am trustworthy and happily married, which is another thing. I thought I would never find love and that I was ruined because of the lifestyle that I had lived in my addiction.”

God changed all of that, she said.

“I get to do what I am supposed to do — what I am called to do,” she said. “For me, that’s freedom. I get to show up to work. I get to have positive healthy relationships with people. I get to set boundaries. . . Today, I have such gratitude.”

Seeing the lightbulb go off in the eyes of the people she’s working with has also been an incredible gift.

“I have been to a few graduations of people that I was able to walk along side – seeing these people put their lives back together is a joy,” she said. “A few of the people I worked with are doing the same thing. They become peer supporters. They get their kids back. They find joy. They’re using their past to help other people see hope.”

Although the cycle of addiction was a downward spiral, she said the cycle of helping others and giving back has been lifechanging.

“Today, I do whatever it takes to stay hungry and humble, helping others,” she said. “I feel like I get more out of helping others than they get from me helping them. God loves a cheerful giver and I want to remain a cheerful humble giver in any way I can.”

Worthington took on her new role at Emerge on Jan. 29th of this year.

Previously, she worked at a company called Thrive Peer Support. She has more than eight years of peer support experience.

What made you decide to come to Emerge?

“I came to Emerge because I like the vision,” she said. “I love the idea of having an all-in-one encompassing program. Everyone is joining forces to make a better life for the residents and their peers.”

Originally, she said, staff at Emerge wanted her to come work for them when they first launched their peer support program last year. 

“Through careful prayer, last November I felt this pull to come here so that’s when I reached out to Ashley Harris,” she said. “I told her that I would like to learn more about Emerge and see what you all are doing there. I came and did a tour and decided I could get on board with this. I love how Emerge is an all-encompassing one stop shop.”

A graduate of Beavercreek High School in 2006, Worthington received her supervising peer supporter’s training in 2020. 

For more about her professional background and her new role at Emerge, click here.