Love, Hazard, Kentucky

Without love, Tim Deaton-Conway might not be alive today.

A former theatrical and operatic performer based out of Manhattan, Deaton-Conway said in New York he was addicted to anything and everything, namely meth and cocaine.

According to Deaton-Conway, his drug problem did not stop when he returned home to Hazard, Kentucky, to help take care of his sick father.

The problem only got worse as he began abusing heroin and other prescription pain medications.

“I feel like I had fallen into that typical familial routine of drugging and using and abusing the system and not really contributing to anything,” Deaton-Conway said.

Until 16 years ago when he met Chad Conway, his current husband.

Before meeting, Deaton-Conway said he did not love himself or feel like he contributed anything to the world.

“He (Chad) was the first person to make me see that I was worth a different way to live,” Deaton-Conway said. “And then one day it was just like. . . he turned the light on.”

Deaton-Conway has been clean for 14 years, and has since completely turned his life around, as he now runs a cattle farm with his husband, and is the executive director at the Appalachian Arts Alliance.

Through his role with the arts alliance, according to Deaton-Conway, he is able to empower young people, and he feels like he can actually contribute to the arts community in Hazard.

“It’s showing them that you can start something from the beginning, and it be a mess, and it all come together to create this beautiful picture in the end,” Deaton-Conway said. “It’s showing them that they are worth it, and the arts bring about that possibility for people.”