A Curiae Anecdotes: “Blessing After Blessing” Joseph Bristol’s Road to Recovery

By Naomi Friedland

Joseph Bristol is proud to graduate from CAP, the Conviction Alternatives Program, on April 2, following a successful year in the program. After four years struggling with addiction and homelessness, Joseph received support from a residential rehab, which led him to A Curiae. Joseph was a functional addict for most of his addiction and was able to keep a steady job in hotel maintenance. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and his mother’s passing triggered Joseph’s introduction to harder drugs, ultimately leading to street fentanyl use. 

Joseph’s younger sister Silvia was by his side throughout his life and played a major role in his recovery journey. She said that she always looked up to Joseph, so seeing drugs take control of him starting in late high school was difficult to watch. 

Silvia said he was always caring and compassionate, as someone who made others feel good about themselves. She described a time when Joseph was in 7th or 8th grade and came home holding a pigeon he had picked up off the street. Joseph told his sister that the pigeon was hurt, and he called the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which picked up the pigeon. 

Joseph and Silvia’s relationship grew in adulthood, extending to Silvia’s children. Joseph stayed a functional addict into his 20s and 30s which allowed him to keep a job and form close relationships with Sivlia’s son and daughter, now almost 25 years old and 12 years old, respectively. 

Joseph’s decline into deeper addiction and homelessness took a toll on Silvia and her children. Even though she is the younger sibling, Silvia said she felt like Joseph’s mother figure. She described seeing Joseph hit rock bottom multiple times, but said each time, that bottom got lower and lower. Silvia tried multiple times to bring Joseph to a rehabilitation program, but she said he was not ready. Eventually, she said she realized this was not her journey to navigate but Joseph’s. It wasn’t until his arrest and detox in jail that Joseph started to work toward recovery. 

Silvia’s daughter was turning five at the time Joseph spiraled into deeper addiction and homelessness. Silvia said it was challenging to explain Joseph’s homelessness to her daughter at such a young age. The main take away Silvia instilled in her daughter was that addiction could happen to anyone. Any unhoused person on the street could be someone’s uncle or brother Silvia would tell her daughter.

Joseph would visit Silvia and her family every few weeks when he was living on the streets. Several times during their visits, Silvia’s daughter would run upstairs to her room to grab a dollar from her piggy bank. Silvia said it was bittersweet to see Joseph accept her daughter’s small gift. 

Silvia said that because her daughter is so young, she does not understand how difficult Joseph’s recovery journey was. All she knows is his success story, and she is very proud of him.

“She’s so excited to have her uncle back,” Silvia said. 

Silvia’s son was a teenager at the time Joseph fell into a deeper addiction, and had a greater understanding of what Joseph was going through. Silvia said Joseph’s experience scared him, and he has stayed away from drugs and alcohol to this day. 

After his time in jail, Joseph transferred to a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program at New Bridge Foundation in Berkeley, CA, where he stayed for seven months. Joseph was introduced to CAP at New Bridge as a way to reduce his jail time. 

Joseph said going to New Bridge and then joining A Curiae was a “blessing after blessing.” In addition to meeting with judges every two weeks, Joseph benefited from mentorship and mental health support through A Curiae. 

“CAP is there for you to make the right decision and they can help you if you are kinda slumping and feeling bad,” he said.

When Joseph was struggling with medical issues, A Curiae put him in touch with a psychiatrist and provided him access to medication. He connected with therapists and learned cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy skills. 

Joseph said A Curiae’s president and founder Wyatt Lim-Tepper was always there if he needed anything and he felt particularly supported by his officer, Hannah. 

“If you are willing to use the tools, you will come out better than you came,” Joseph said about the CAP program. 

Joseph has been in a sober living house in Berkeley, CA, for about a year and is saving up to move out working in hotels. Joseph said he would like to start a family and “do the whole American dream”— taking his children to baseball games and to Disneyland.

Joseph will live out his Disneyland dreams a few days after his CAP graduation on April 2, with Silvia and her two children. Not only will they celebrate Joseph’s niece’s 12th birthday, but also Joseph’s success.The trip will have its own meaning for Silvia’s son, who grew up watching Star Wars with Joseph and will now get to experience the Disneyland attraction alongside his uncle.