BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Members of the Kiwanis Club leaned in as Justin Muncy, a wellness coach with the Thrive Community Coalition, took the floor Thursday during a club luncheon at Giovanni’s in Inez. The guest speaker shared the story of his journey from addiction to redemption.
Muncy’s role at Thrive is clear-cut. He works with individuals referred by social services and the court system, people looking to rebuild their lives after addiction.
“It’s somebody that’s messed up and is trying to live their life differently,” he said. “That’s what it’s turned out to be—me being a mentor. Through God, my family and all my service support, I’ve learned how to live better. How I should have been living—now I do that all the time.”
Pausing, Muncy took a breath.
“I want to thank God first. Without him, I would have nothing,” he said. “Without my family, I wouldn’t have anything. My family supports me to this day. I stop two or three times a week and get food from my mamaw.”
It wasn’t always this way.
Muncy grew up in Martin County, a bright student and talented athlete, surrounded by a strong, supportive family. His grandfather taught at Pigeon Roost; his aunt still works at the bank.
“They’ll probably have to wheel her out of there when the time comes,” he joked.
He excelled in school and sports.
“I was like the all-American kid,” he said. “Everyone told me that I needed to be a doctor or a lawyer as I was growing up.”
The University of Kentucky took notice, awarding him a full-ride scholarship to study pre-med. But the transition to college life proved difficult.
“You get to UK and you’re a pre-med biology major with classes on Friday mornings after you’ve had the college life, you’re not going to those classes,” he said. “So I stopped going to my Friday morning classes.”
The downward spiral began.
That winter, Muncy broke his leg playing football in the snow with his cousins. That injury, he said, set the stage for his addiction. A doctor in Paintsville prescribed him Lortab and Xanax, a combination familiar to many struggling with substance abuse in Appalachia.
From 2001 to 2007, he worked as a coal miner at Excel, earning $1,000 a week.
“I’d get paid on Friday, and by Monday, I would be borrowing money off [Mom],” he confessed. “That’s how bad my drug addiction was.”
In 2007, Muncy’s drug use caught up with him. He was arrested in Lawrence County. That is when Tim Robinson, founder of Addiction Recovery Care of Louisa, guided him to drug court. But Muncy struggled, cycling in and out of jail. By 2008, he was kicked out of drug court altogether but managed to dodge a bullet when a clerical error in his probation work meant he walked free instead of serving jail time.
Three months later, he found himself in Florida, part of a group making the notorious run to so-called “pill mills.” His plan was simple: Get a load of Oxycontin and bring it back to Kentucky. Instead, he was arrested within 24 hours and did not return to Kentucky for several years.
Muncy was sentenced to seven years in a Florida prison.
“I’m sure none of you have been to prison,” he said. “But there are two ways it could go: You can get yourself out of there in somewhat decent shape, or you can become a victim of whatever the circumstances are.”
He chose the former.
After his release, life seemed to settle into place. He married, became a father, and quickly rose to a supervisory position at work.
But addiction lurked beneath the surface.
“You could have never told me that I was going to get back on drugs,” he said. “I have this perfect little boy; I have a good wife, and I didn’t think it was ever going to happen.”
Within two years, he tried Suboxone, believing it to be safe.
“Just like all good drug addicts do, as soon as I opened that door, it was over with,” he said.
His addiction escalated rapidly—from Suboxone to cocaine and marijuana, then to meth, fentanyl and heroin. His marriage crumbled.
“I completely ruined my marriage and I don’t want to say a terrible father because I’ve always loved my son,” he said. “I became a bad dad. I neglected my responsibilities.”
At his worst, Muncy was a full-blown IV drug user, putting himself in constant danger.
In 2021, after a drug-fueled psychotic episode, Muncy landed back in jail on a probation violation. His arrest was chaotic—he fought police and corrections officers every step of the way.
“Then when the dust settled, I didn’t have a probation violation,” he said. “I had assault on corrections officers, escape, terroristic threatening and menacing.”
Faced with prison time, Muncy was offered drug court as an alternative. Initially, he saw it as a ticket out, but that night, God’s voice urged him to face his sentence. Instead of taking the easier route, he accepted four years in prison.
Muncy enrolled in the jail’s substance abuse program, a structured program requiring a higher level of accountability. “I became the chairman of the program,” he said. “I became a good leader, not someone who is going to take advantage. I’ve always had a good, kind heart.”
He also completed programs in parenting and co-dependency, gaining tools that would help him after release. Instead of four years, he was out in 14 months.
Today, Muncy channels his experience into helping others navigate the difficult road to sobriety. Thrive Community Coalition has given him a platform to mentor people who, like him, once felt lost.
His story, he hopes, will serve as a cautionary tale but also as a testament to the power of redemption.
“People see me out here doing things, they tell my mom about it, and it makes my mom happy—or my dad or my aunt,” he said. “I did not know how changing my life was going to help them.”
His journey has come full circle. Now, he offers a helping hand to guide others down the path he once strayed from.
While working at Thrive, Muncy has seen remarkable turnarounds. One of his clients, a man who had been arrested multiple times and expelled from recovery programs, was known for his aggressive behavior.
“My co-worker told me that he would ‘fight a piece of plywood,’” Muncy said. “We took him underwing, and now he’s paying his child support and getting to see his kids again.”
Thrive is now guiding that client toward employment.
Muncy also shared the success stories of other clients.