Nicole Rodriguez

Eight years ago, I was a year into my personal recovery from substance use disorder. I graduated with my bachelor's in criminology while in active addiction. Upon entering recovery, I realized my passion for helping others in similar situations and started working at an inpatient detox and recovery center. After losing a close friend to overdose, I began street outreach in Jacksonville, providing Narcan, HIV self-test kits, and resources, initially funded by community donations and merchandise sales. I learned to write grants, expanded it into a full street outreach program, used data to open a recovery community center, and now lead a team of peer support specialists offering overdose prevention, HIV testing, detox connections, and resources.