Everything Feels Brand New
Life after addiction
After a battle with meth addiction, Jamie Culber found opportunity and accountability at Roper.
Meth had taken hold of Jamie Culber’s life, and, at 40 years old, Jamie was ready to fight for it back.
“I was what you call a functional addict,” says Jamie, line attendant at Roper Corporation, one of GEA’s plants. “I worked a job. I paid my bills. But I wanted more out of life than what I was getting.”
Jamie had his own remodeling business, but things were up and down.
“I always worked for cash,” says Jamie. “But my success depended on the stage of my addiction.”
Jamie had been to prison three times and in and out of jail since his youth. He was working here and there but knew he needed a change.
“One remodeling customer mentioned that she worked at Roper, and there was an opportunity for me if I wanted it,” says Jamie. “So, I applied, and that’s when things began to look up.”
Jamie was surprised at his fresh sense of purpose.
“Roper gave me accountability and stability,” says Jamie. “I wake up with a schedule to keep and a job to do. I have a great community here that looks after me.”
Jamie also plugged into Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous.
“I realized the 12 steps [of Alcoholics Anonymous] are really about a walk with God—you get help, then you give help,” says Jamie. “Honestly, the biggest difference in my before and after is Jesus.”
While working through the 12 steps, Jamie discovered he’d been using drugs to cope with high anxiety levels.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was self-medicating,” says Jamie. “When life was overwhelming, drugs solved the problem for a little while.”
At Roper, Jamie has been afforded healthier ways to cope. “Now I have insurance, which means I can treat my anxiety with medication, not drugs,” says Jamie. “It’s way more effective and doesn’t make life harder.”
Today, Jamie is nine months sober. His daughter and fiancé appreciate his new take on life.
“It all feels brand new,” says Jamie. “I have insurance and a 401k. For the first time in my life, it feels like I have a future. Turns out, it’s not too late.”
Jamie knows he’s accomplished what most people can’t, and his humility is evident. He is eager to help others with his story and aware he has to take his sobriety one day at a time.
“A lifetime of sobriety feels overwhelming, but if you can just stay sober today,” says Jamie. “You can do it today for the rest of your life.”
And that’s exactly what Jamie plans to do.
Are you battling addiction or anxiety, GEA Roper offers plenty of resources for employees battling addiction.