My Story

Matt Kornegay       Founder | President

When I was fifteen years old, I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol.  Basically, I was a loner just looking to be accepted.  Having a group of friends with positive influence was missing in my life.  This propelled me to the start socially drinking and using marijuana.  Within a few years, this habit turned into an addiction to harder drugs.  At 19 years old, I was arrested and charged with several drug related offenses.  I tried to get my life back in order, but was unsuccessful.  By the time I was 21, I had experimented with just about every illegal drug available.  I soon found my drug of choice – heroin.  It wasn’t long after using heroin that my life began to slip away and the hope of having a successful future faded out of existence.

It was impossible for my full-time job to provide for me financially while supporting my addiction.  I began to steal and con others in order to supply the drugs I needed so desperately.  It wasn’t long before that lifestyle soon caught up with me.  I reached out for help and made a decision to go to detox in an effort to get clean.  After getting out of detox, I immediately began to follow the same lifestyle patterns that I had before.  Even though I tried changing the people I hung out with and the places I visited, I still made a decision to get high and put myself in situations that negatively affected my recovery.  It wasn’t long after that, I had overdosed and was arrested again with several more drug and DUI charges.

Shortly after, in 2003, I found my way to a Christ-centered drug and alcohol regeneration program where my life drastically changed.  I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and through His redemptive power, He set me FREE!  During my six months at the regeneration program, I began a life-changing process that has resulted in where I am today.  Six years after graduating from the program, God began to birth in my heart a desire to help others struggling with chemical addictions.  At the time I was single and heavily involved in ministry and volunteering at my local church.

In December of 2009, I began dating a beautiful, godly woman, who would eventually, in late 2010 become my wife.  After getting married, I began sharing with her my vision and desire to help adults and families with substance abuse.  My new bride, Paula, was serving as a missionary who ministered to international students at the local university.  After much prayer and fasting together, we decided to start our own non-profit.  Reach Recovery was founded in mid spring 2011 and by early September 2011 we were officially approved as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  We held our first group class in October.  Today our ministry is reaching, engaging, and restoring hope to those battling drug and alcohol dependencies as well as their families.  We are totally reliant upon God’s saving grace and believe that the information we are teaching and the “Good News” we are sharing is touching the lives of others in an eternal way.

Live Free,