Miranda Mann walks at Waterworks Park with her dog, Gram. Mann is the house manager of the Light House Sober Living women’s home in Port Clinton. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

Miranda Mann was once a child victim. Today, she is a women’s advocate who uses her story to prove that recovery is possible. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Miranda Mann, she says, has been an “adventure-seeking, run away from everything, keep your bags packed” person her entire life. Sadly, she had a lot to run away from. She was abused as a child, and, after getting swallowed up in addiction as an adult, she was held hostage and abused for weeks.

Today, Mann is still running, but now she is running to the security of recovery and God’s love.

Mann is a certified peer supporter and the house manager of the Light House Sober Living women’s home in Port Clinton. Her road from child victim to women’s advocate was long and traumatic, but her story provides a foundation where other women can find their first glimpse of hope.

“I learned that the vulnerable parts of my story are impactful when I’m sitting next to someone, and they say, ‘Me, too,’” Mann said.

Mann’s adventurous drive took her to the state of Oregon, where partying led to experimenting, which led to an addiction to meth. In her weakened state, she couldn’t protect herself when she was kidnapped.

“I was drugged and held hostage for weeks by multiple people. I don’t know what they did to my body, but I felt it,” she said. “When I was free, I had a rape kit done, and they discovered horse tranquilizers, acid and ketamine.”

When Mann returned to Ohio in 2016, she was broken, afraid of everything and everyone. She couldn’t take a shower, run a vacuum or use a hairdryer, because they block sound. While she was held hostage, the drugs left her unable to speak, so she learned to listen to survive.

“I was still using when I came home,” she said. “I was traumatized and stuck in a drug-induced psychosis. Crawling out of that was the hardest thing.”

Miranda Mann is now free from the darkness of addiction thanks to God and a program of recovery. One of the gifts of her new life was her dog, Gram. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

But she crawled anyway, carrying with her a little hope and a little faith. She tried many things to stay sober, but what worked was committing to a program of recovery and to God. On March 15, 2022, Mann entered Becky’s House Road to Hope Sober Living.

“I was so disgusted with myself. I hated myself so much, but God used Becky’s House. A real program of recovery was the one thing I had never tried. Without the help of sponsors and meetings, I never could have done this,” she said. “I heard people tell stories of hope and joy, and I wanted to talk like that.”

Today, Mann talks openly about the hope and joy she found. She talks first of the darkness she endured, and then about the people and programs that broke through that darkness.

“I learned that the darkest parts of my story are ok,” she said.

Mann lets other people know that their darkness doesn’t have to be a chain. There are people who can teach them how to take the first, difficult steps into recovery.

“Bring the body, and the mind will follow. Act ‘as if’ and rewire your brain,” she said. “The program gave me things beyond what I knew to pray for. It gave me freedom from shame and guilt and being haunted by my past.”

Today, the woman who kept a packed bag is staying put in Port Clinton while she runs to new life every day.

“I know I’m where God wants me to be,” she said. “Now, I run to things: to opportunities, to people who speak life to me, and to Jesus.”

Editor’s Note: This story on Miranda Mann is the last in a series leading up to Overdose Awareness Day, which will be held on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. in The District in downtown Port Clinton. Everyone is invited: those in recovery, those who want to support those in recovery, and those, like Mann once was, who need compassionate help to take that first step into a life free of addiction.