Walk in my Shoes Podcast Nicky Ruszkowski

Season 2 is in the works. If you'd like to be on a future episode email me at ruszkown@upstate.edu.

Brandon is a 31 year old white man who talks to us about living with HIV, recovery from substance use disorder and his incredibly difficult childhood in foster care where he experienced abuse. 

We sit down and chat with Eddie again, today we chat to him about his mental health and suicide attempts. He discusses how his struggles with his sexual orientation caused his first suicide attempt when he was 11 years old. *Explicit language*

Shelly is a 54 year old black woman from Newark, New Jersey. She is a wonderful role model to many. She lives with HIV, has 15 years in recovery from drug use and now works helping people who are newly diagnosed with HIV come to terms with that diagnosis. She talks about her spent time in prison for killing an abusive boyfriend, her HIV and how her husband dealt with her HIV diagnosis with great kindness.

Mateo is a 24 year old transgender man from California. He's in his first year of law school but its taken an incredible journey to get there. Born into a highly conservative family with a pastor for a father, he grew up in a homophobic and trans phobic home. 

Emily chats to us about the sexual abuse she experienced as a teen, her abusive marriage and her goals for the future.