Our Story

After beating a horrific heroin and Xanax addiction, Thomas became a warrior in the treatment world. He was hilarious, cool, and deeply compassionate. He helped bring hundreds of men and women into recovery and gave so many people hope for a better life. Years later, after a string of traumatic events, Thomas relapsed. We watched him fight with everything he had, going from treatment center to treatment center, doing the work, trying to stay alive Nothing worked. He couldn’t get a grip on his sobriety and while tapering off Suboxone, he took what he thought was a Xanax or a pain pill. Instead it was fentanyl and it killed him.

After losing him, we were desperate for answers. How could this happen to someone who knew the ins and outs of recovery better than anyone?What we found was stigma. Stigma around addiction. Around treatment. Around the people who are just trying to survive.

Stigma is why people stop taking life-saving medication. Stigma is why people don’t ask for help. It’s why they feel unworthy. It’s why funding and resources fall short. Stigma why people are dying.

So we decided to do something about it. The Thomas Effect is about redefining recovery.

It’s about awareness and education. It’s about opening hearts and minds. It’s about teaching people how to respond with compassion instead of anger and how to give people their power back and help them build beautiful, meaningful lives.

We believe in multiple paths to recovery.

We believe in harm reduction. We believe in education and accountability.

We believe in MAT. We believe in compassion and empowerment.

We believe recovery should never be one-size-fits-all.

This is a space for the ones still struggling. For the families who feel lost. For the people who just want to understand. We’re here to fight misinformation, offer support, and remind the world that every life is worth saving and every path forward matters.

Recovery isn’t black and white. It’s messy. It’s personal. It’s beautiful and it’s absolutely worth it.

~Rachel, Thomas’ sister