C.W. Dent Turns Life Around: Former Addict Pursuing Life Dream as Peer Recovery Support Specialist
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on March 14, 2023

“My dream was always to play college baseball, then become a teacher and coach,” said Dent, a Peer Recovery Support Specialist with Community Care of West Virginia. “My life didn’t work out that way. So to now be trusted with coaching and guiding kids after the things I’ve done and everything I’ve been through… it means the world to me.”
Growing up, Dent had what he called a perfect childhood. When he was 11 years old, his family moved to Bridgeport from Washington, D.C. A self-proclaimed sports fanatic, Dent took full advantage of the quality athletic programs the Bridgeport area had to offer. He was raised by hardworking and loving parents, was a good student and star athlete, and even secured a scholarship to further his baseball career at then

But despite his ideal upbringing and the anticipation of a bright future, during Dent’s first year of college, things took a turn that would change the course of the next two decades of his life.
“When the girl I had dated all through high school got pregnant with my daughter, I decided it was the right thing to quit college, get a job and support the family I was about to start,” Dent recalled. “Our relationship didn’t work out the way I planned. We split up, I saw my daughter less and less, and I felt like I had lost everything I had going for me. My dreams of playing college ball and becoming a coach were gone, and now I had also lost the family I gave it up for.”