Superpower: Gratitude
Marjorie Oakley Home for Women
Thanks to the caring team at the Marjorie Oakley Home for Women in Logan County, Christy Baker got a second lease on life after a decades-long battle with addiction. Now, she gets to pay it forward, offering hope and compassion to other women in need.
Baker grew up in Webster Springs. She says she had a good life and good parents, but she made some bad decisions as she got older. “I ended up in addiction for about 20 years—not just one substance, but anything I could catch a buzz on to take my mind off things,” she says. “I really lost focus of what my future could be.”
Eventually, those bad decisions caught up with her. She wound up in legal trouble, and she was court-ordered to go to treatment at the Marjorie Oakley Home. “The people who were running the organization were very honorable people,” Baker says. “I could see that they were really trying to help the people who were here.”
After completing the program, she worked there as a night tech and then as a dayshift driver. She then received her recovery coach certificate, took her Peer Recovery Support Specialist certification, and now serves as program manager. “I don’t like patting myself on the back, but it does amaze me how far I’ve come since I first came here,” Baker says. “It really moved me that they cared more about my recovery than I did. I just feel grateful to be giving back, to do for other people what they did for me.”
Baker aspires to expand outreach programs to the counties that don’t have recovery support, especially her home county of Webster. “I want people to know that they do matter. Their lives matter to people. They’re worth it, and they deserve it.”
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER 2026 WEST VIRGINIA WONDER WOMEN
Learn more about our Wonder Women
Since 2014 WV Living magazine has been honoring West Virginia Wonder Women, amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. WV Living is proud to celebrate these Appalachian mothers, millennials, and mavens proving that in a time full of uncertainty, divisiveness, and hate, love for one another is all we really need. No need for bulletproof bracelets or a golden lasso of truth—these women are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.
Leave a Reply