As a high schooler, Nick MacDermott faced repeating a grade. He lacked structure and support at home and had fallen behind.

Then a guidance counselor connected him with NewBridge JobsPlus, an alternate path to a diploma. Nick found a sense of community, daily routine and individualized support. The education counselor set a welcoming tone each morning, and Nick said he finally “got” math. Within a few months, he earned his high school diploma.

“NewBridge JobsPlus helped me because it gave me the opportunity for opportunity,” said Nick, now 30. He understood he had a clean slate, free of earlier missteps.

Nick lived independently and worked for several years after completing the program. At age 20, he developed an opioid addiction that led to overdoses, car accidents and an arrest that finally pushed him to seek treatment. Nick completed detox, residential and outpatient programs and then sober living.

What helped him rebuild, he said, was the mindset he developed at NewBridge JobsPlus — that mistakes are learning opportunities, not something that defines him. As a drug and alcohol counselor helping others navigate early recovery, Nick shares that lesson with his clients.

“If it wasn’t for NewBridge setting that example — that it’s OK to not be the cookie-cutter example of what society expects a person to be, just get it back together and try again — I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said. “You only fail when you quit. When you don’t quit, you get to learn a lesson.”

He has found healthy outlets in skateboarding, walking in nature with his dog, and playing music with friends. “Without NewBridge opening the door, I couldn’t have walked through,” he said.