I’m Julissa Grozozski-Torres—Certified Recovery Peer Advocate, New York Certified Peer Specialist, and the founder and CEO of Triumph Ova Struggles Advocacy and Consulting. This blog covers part of my story. Based in NYC, everything we do is guided by the core values of Optimism, Vulnerability, and Adaptability (OVA). My journey is proof that transformation is possible: from surviving to finding purpose, from being silenced to becoming an advocate, and from enduring pain to discovering strength.
Recovery isn’t just something I talk about—it’s my lived expertise. Every day, I choose this path: reclaiming my voice, rebuilding after trauma, and using my story to help others rise above their own challenges, too.
From Trauma to Transformation
My story began in hardship. Both my parents struggled with opioid and polysubstance use. Born with HIV, I entered foster care briefly after birth when my mother passed away just a month after I was born. I returned to live with my dad and grandfather, but by the age of six, I re-entered foster care. At 12, I was adopted, but after enduring years of abuse, I returned to foster care at 16 following a suicide attempt. During this time, I spent 16 months hospitalized. While I was in the hospital, I lost both my grandfather and my father within a year.
My hospitalization at Elmhurst and Queens Children's Psychiatric Center was both a refuge and a challenge. It was a time of safety yet uncertainty, where I often felt completely alone. Still, even in those darkest moments, a spark inside me refused to give up. I found a sense of family among the providers who saw my resilience and supported me in ways I desperately needed.
While hospitalized, I was assigned an IEP—a critical step for me, as school had always been a struggle having undiagnosed ADHD. For years, I was misunderstood, viewed through the lens of "behavior" rather than "needs." I attended multiple schools, facing systemic challenges at every turn.
Between the ages of 16 and 20, I battled through self-harm survived three suicide attempts and endured 19 psychiatric hospitalizations. I lived in a group home, cycled through five foster placements, and aged out of the system into supportive housing with little guidance into adulthood. Despite feeling unsupported, I began advocating for myself, researching solutions, challenging misdiagnoses, and working tirelessly to get the right care and medication. These experiences shaped the advocate I’ve become today.
Recovery: Personal and Political
Recovery is so much more than managing symptoms—it’s about reclaiming agency, dignity, and the fundamental right to thrive. It’s about creating systems that truly support people instead of limiting them.
Living with HIV, a diagnosis I’ve carried since birth, and surviving complex trauma—including time in a high-control religious group—has taught me resilience. I’ve navigated substance misuse, self injury, misdiagnosis's, medication challenges, institutionalization, and the emotional isolation of feeling voiceless within a broken system. Yet, through connection and purpose, I found healing and strength. I deeply understand what it’s like to rely on a system for basic needs, only to feel the weight of its failures.
Today, I’m a proud mother of two amazing children, both of whom have IEPs. I’ve fought tirelessly alongside doctors and providers to ensure they receive accurate diagnoses and the services they need. I’ve sat in countless IEP meetings, advocating for their rights. That same determination fuels my advocacy work every single day.
Advocacy as a Path to Healing
I created Triumph Ova Struggles Advocacy and Consulting because no one should have to navigate these complicated systems alone. I stand beside families, youth, and providers as they face the challenges of education, mental health, disability, and social services.
Through my lived experiences, I’ve developed lived expertise. I use that expertise to:
- Mentor and empower emerging Youth Peer Advocates
- Support families navigating IEP and OPWDD processes
- Translate clinical language and teach individuals how to advocate effectively with providers
- Teach how to research and advocate
- Offer guidance on complex cases that span multiple systems
- Provide hope for those still searching for their path forward
My mission is to close the gap between professional language and human connection, creating recovery-focused spaces where people feel empowered to reclaim their stories.
Gratitude: The Heart of My Journey
Recovery has taught me to embrace pain while holding onto purpose. It’s not about striving for perfection—it’s about progress. I’m deeply grateful not only for surviving but for transforming my struggles into something meaningful.
I’m grateful for my scars—they are proof that I’ve endured.
I’m grateful for my children—they inspire me to break harmful generational cycles.
And I’m even grateful for the systems that failed me, the locked units, and the missteps—they fueled my drive to create change.
My gratitude is born from struggle, and my strength grows from it.
This Is Recovery
Recovery is possible—even after trauma, even when systems fall short. It’s not linear, and it’s not about being “fixed.” It’s about showing up for yourself, again and again, and believing that you are worthy of healing.
With every story I share, every family I support, and every young person I sit beside in their darkest moments, I reclaim my narrative—and help others start writing theirs.
I’m not here despite my struggles.
I’m here because of them.
I am living proof that you can Triumph OVA Struggles.
🧡 Let’s rise together. Because recovery isn't just possible—it’s powerful.
📍 Based in NYC | Serving individuals, youth & families, and professionals
🌐 TriumphOVAStruggles.org
📧 info@TriumphOVAStruggles.org
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