For Billy Lindsay, recovery wasn’t a single turning point. It was a choice made over and over, one day at a time. This September, Billy will celebrate 19 years clean and sober, but his story began in a place many of our guests at Rogue Retreat know all too well.
“It started out rough,” Billy says. “I got clean for my daughter. She was three at the time. It was get clean, or never see her again. After six months, I started doing it for myself.”
Billy spent two years in a men’s recovery house through OnTrack, where he began the hard work of rebuilding his life. He committed fully to the program, attending meetings consistently for five years and sticking to a strict routine. To avoid slipping back into old habits, he would go straight from work to the recovery house each day, intentionally steering clear of people and situations that could pull him off course. He understood that even a brief interaction with the wrong influence could lead him down a destructive path, so he stayed focused on his recovery and the future he was working to build.
After prison, Billy moved to Medford to be closer to family and start fresh. After starting his recovery, he discovered Rogue Retreat. Inspired by his best friend, who was also in recovery and working here, Billy applied for a guest host position. That was six years ago. Since then, he’s moved up through the organization: from Assistant Kitchen Manager to Kitchen Manager and now serves as our Facilities Assistant. But for Billy, it’s never been about job titles.
“This job isn’t about me,” he says. “It’s about seeing people achieve, not just our guests, but the people I work with. This work can take a toll, but I’ve seen so many people grow and go on to better things.”
Billy’s deep compassion is rooted in his own lived experience. He understands what it feels like to be broken, isolated, and uncertain about the future. His support resonates because it comes from a place of authenticity. He has walked the same path. He believes that change is possible for anyone who wants it, that people are not bound to their past or the circles they used to keep. With determination and the right support, new choices and a new life are within reach.
And now, his name stands on the front of a new Haven house, a sober living home located at our Kelly Shelter, helping others take their next step toward independence.
When Billy found out about the honor, he was stunned.
“I knew something was up when I was asked to be on site at a certain time,” he says with a smile. “I show up and see all these people are here to celebrate, not just me, but what we’re doing and the opportunity people are going to have to move into a sober living space right here at the Kelly Shelter.”
Named Billy’s Haven, the new house is a symbol of both transformation and hope. For Billy, it’s a full circle moment, a chance to give back in a way that’s deeply personal.
“I hope when people hear my name attached to this space, they think about doing the next right thing,” he says. “Because that’s how I show up every day. I’m here to do the next right thing and give back to a community that previously I had taken so much from.”
His message to the future residents of Billy’s Haven is simple, but profound: “Think about what you’re running from, and now what you can run towards in life. Continue in recovery, because without recovery, I wouldn’t have all of this laughter and real friends.”
At Rogue Retreat, we believe in second chances and in the power of lived experience to light the way forward. Billy Lindsay is living proof that no one is beyond redemption, and every day is a chance to begin again.