Karen Pentz is living in long‑term recovery after addiction taking from her what looked like a stable life fourteen years ago into homelessness, incarceration, and deep despair. She lost her sense of worth and believed she was beyond saving.

Recovery changed everything. Through accountability, peer support, Drug Court, counseling, and faith, Karen learned how to face her pain and live without numbing it. Recovery gave her life back. Today, she is a mother to two daughters, a wife, and a Jail In‑Reach Peer with Unison Behavioral Health inside the Ware County Jail. She serves on the Peer Advisory Committee bringing lived experience, compassion, and honesty into spaces where hope is often missing.

Karen believes recovery is about dignity, connection, and being seen as human—not perfect. People are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done, and healing is always possible.