LISBON — The Family Recovery Center kicked off its celebration of 50 years of helping people recover from substance abuse and mental health disorders with a proclamation and a story of hope.

“Family Recovery to me saved my life,” Salem resident Tomas Santiago said Wednesday.

The 9/11 survivor who grew up in the South Bronx in New York City accompanied FRC CEO Eloise Traina to the Columbiana County Board of Commissioners meeting, briefly sharing his message of recovery.

“I’m proud of where I am today,” he said.

Family Recovery Center started on May 3, 1973, and used to be headquartered on the second floor of the JC Penney building in downtown Salem. Since then, the agency has grown to multiple locations, including the headquarters in Lisbon, the Fleming House in Lisbon and Oxford House in Salem.

Traina has been with the agency for a good part of those 50 years and said she’s “thankful for the staff dedicated to working with residents to give them support and guidance.”

She said they’re now serving a larger juvenile population and will be kicking off a veterans program at the Oxford House with Dr. Marshall Bahr. She introduced Santiago as one of the success stories of FRC.

On his own since age 13, he said he’s been through 27 rehab programs, had been on methadone and did all different drugs, with the exception of methamphetamine. He was working in the south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 and was in an elevator when the plane hit, on his way to get cigarettes out of his car. He said those cigarettes saved him. He was injured, but he was alive.

He ended up moving to Ohio to Youngstown where a friend lived, met his wife who had family in Calcutta and moved to Columbiana County 10 1/2 years ago to Lisbon. For the past nine years, he’s lived in Salem and owns his home.

He said living in the South Bronx wasn’t easy and he came to the little town of Lisbon and talked with Traina and other counselors at FRC and said “they held me accountable.”

He’s been sober ever since.

Commissioner Mike Halleck asked if he would go out to the county jail and talk to the inmates and he said he would love to do that. Santiago has spoken at many places about his experiences, including schools, and said talking about it helps him.

“As long as I can let it out, that continues to keep me sober,” Santiago said, adding he doesn’t let anything derail him and sharing is important to him.

“If I can get one person out of 100 to listen, that’s one life I saved,” he said.

In the proclamation, the commissioners declared May as Family Recovery Center Anniversary Month, saying the benefits of preventing and overcoming substance use or mental health disorders are significant and valuable. People in recovery can achieve healthy lifestyles and contribute positively to their communities.

The proclamation urged residents to “encourage relatives and friends of people with mental and/or substance abuse disorders to implement preventative measures, recognize the signs of a problem, and guide those in need to appropriate treatment and recovery support service.”

To learn more about FRC, visit familyrecovery.org or call 330-424-1468.