Meet Gregg Grossman
"Everywhere you went you made hearts a little lighter, things a little righter, and the world a little brighter."
Gregg Grossman was not supposed to die.He was a healthy 26-year-old man; a kind, intelligent soul who was loved by many.
He asked for help, he went to 30 days of inpatient rehabilitation, and he thought he was free and cured of his addiction.
When I visited him in the rehab 4 hours from New York, he spoke with hope and excitement about his recovery. He played his guitar, he wrote a farewell letter to cocaine, and he tried his best to give up drugs and start his life again. He was sad that he had given up a successful career but felt confident that he could get back what he had lost.
Once he was released and living on his own, he said that abstinence from drugs was way harder than he imagined. We knew little about harm reduction, sober living, long term recovery, and how to find activities that didn’t involve alcohol and drugs.
He had rented an apartment, was hired for a new job, and had one week until his first day. He went to 12-step meetings, and then he allowed himself one last high with some people he met in his apartment building. High on cocaine, he tried to come down with Oxy and Xanax, and someone helped him onto his bed.
There he slept and never woke up.
Gregg’s battle with addiction, and ultimately his death, makes us realize the harsh impact of drug and alcohol use, abuse, and dependency. Gregg is deeply missed by many. There are so many things that he will never see, and so many great things he would have done and accomplished. Gregg continues to live on in our memories, and his legacy will never be forgotten. His warmth, sensitivity, compassion, and humor will remain in our hearts forever.
Too many families have experienced this awful loss. Too many young adults have lost their way, lost their sense of a good future, or simply made mistakes with horrific consequences.
It was Gregg’s wish to help others struggling with addiction that inspired our family to start Gregg’s Gift, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to finding ways to help young adults struggling with addiction and their families.
We have carefully selected 6 charities, each of which specializes in one of the 6 support areas below.
When you are ready to donate, select from among these six different ways you can help:
- support for at risk youth
- harm reduction services
- scholarships for inpatient rehabilitation
- sober activities for young adults in recovery
- free rides to recovery services for people living with substance use disorder
- drug and alcohol prevention and education for children, young adults, parents, teachers, health professionals