DRYDEN, N.Y., May 16 -- Tompkins Cortland Community College issued the following news release:
Joel Lansdowne found his way to TC3 after completing a 28-day inpatient rehabilitation program. While in rehab, he found that working with his peers and assisting them with their own recovery was good for him, too. His after-care plan included pursuing education, and, as he puts it, the stars aligned. "The SUNY Reconnect program came out, and one of its academic programs was chemical dependency counseling," he said. "When the universe gives you signs like that, you must abide! I enrolled, and it has changed my life!"
Joel's story starts well before TC3. "As a gay man growing up in a small town in the early 2000s, I struggled deeply with internal...