Breaking the Stigma

Join us at the convention on Thursday afternoon where Tony Hoffman, a Former BMX Elite Pro and a 2016 Rio Olympic Games Coach, shares his story of addiction and starting over. All over addicts face a stigma and Tony is no stranger to this in his 11 years of sobriety. Tony elaborates on his early childhood through his dark years of addiction and his many years in recovery. He speaks about his early teenage struggles with mental health. In this keynote, Tony will help the audience understand that addiction was beyond a choice and his listeners get a raw and in-depth look from the addict’s state of mind. The greatest stigma Tony faced were not so much in his active use but when he began to dream of something more for his life, something big and without substances. The judicial system, employers, community members have confronted Tony and judged him based on these stigmas. These same stigmas made it hard for Tony’s parents to seek help or understand it was okay to have a child struggling with addiction. Tony has beaten the odds one day at a time and dedicated his life to bringing hope that recovery is possible and how critical it is to break down the stigmas and shift our thinking about addiction.