Charles Gooding was born and raised in an all-black neighborhood of Seattle’s Historical Central District. He beat the odds and overcame drug addiction, homelessness, mental health challenges, and incarceration.

Charles began as a Peer/Outreach Specialist and worked his way from the bottom up. He is a passionate change agent committed to ending negative vicious cycles of addiction and incarceration in the same community he survived. Charles is a recovery coach, reentry counselor, and peer/outreach specialist.

Since successfully accomplishing a degree in substance use disorders, and youth development, his career focus is specializing in prevention and intervention - providing direct treatment services and facilitating relapse prevention models.

Charles was on the first committee in Washington State to launch peer model approaches. 21 years later he continues his tireless mission as an energetic recovery coach and motivational speaker, using many different platforms empowering lives and promoting positive change.