Warming hope

You can create a whole new person in nine months, and that's exactly what Lois Cleveland has done.

Lois, 42, didn't have another baby.

With the help of a remarkable facility and even more remarkable people, she remade herself and her spirit shines in her brown eyes.

"I've been clean for nine months!" Lois proclaims, and though the former substance abuser knows it's going to be one day at a time for the rest of her life, she says she's ready to step into her tomorrows.

Lois is trusting God and the proven 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to keep her feet on higher ground. Already, the Louisville native has applied for a job in an area hospital and prays she'll be hired. But if that doesn't work out, she won't give up.

Lois is one of 12 women who have the distinction of comprising the very first graduating class of the 10-month-old local Women's Addiction Recovery Manor (WARM) at 56 N. McKinley Street.

Today, they'll come forward in a commencement ceremony at the center, and receive not only a certificate but also the applause and admiration of their 87 peers who are in various phases of the treatment plan.

They'll tell you that before coming to the center with its free program based on tried and true treatment models, they'd pretty much hit rock bottom.

Some had been in jail. Some had lost their children, and one had attempted suicide.

They didn't know what awaited them at the attractive brick and frame building that covers 33,000 square feet and cost $3.28 million -- but used no public money in its construction.

Elizabeth "Betty" Bell from Lebanon, Ky., said she had never been in a recovery center or even around one, "and had no idea what would happen. I was three hours away from home and scared to death."

But the 49-year-old mother of four and grandmother of two knew she had to do something. "I drank pretty much all my life, but it didn't get that bad until the last five years," she said.

Her family urged her to get help, and she's so glad she took their advice. "This is the best decision I've ever made," said the former employee of an office supply business.

Now, sober and optimistic, she's going after her long-time dream of working in a hospital as a phlebotomist who draws blood for testing. To get her first taste of the health care environment, she plans to do hospital volunteer work.

Carey Sargent from Grayson, Ky., had only a few minutes to chat before dashing off to a parenting class, but in that time the mother of a 6-year-old boy said she knew when she came to WARM "that I had to stay the course."

Carey, 32, said she had come from a broken home and had gotten into substance abuse as a form of rebellion. Then she "hit bottom ...They welcomed me here with open arms." She already has some college, and hopes to return to school and become a social worker.

Stacey Blue, 31, frankly says, "This place saved my life." It also has helped the Henderson resident restore her relationship with her children, two of whom are in the foster care system.

"Before I came here, I hadn't seen my son in two years," she said. "I was in really bad shape. I'd lost everything."

Now Stacey, who works in the facility's detox unit, feels she has found herself again. "It's going to be a shock to a lot of people in Henderson to know I've done this."

Terrie Armstead of Henderson said that when she entered WARM on July 16, "I didn't think I was going to make it. My self esteem was so low."

Terrie, 44, said her favorite part of the four-phase program in the 100-bed center is "'Community Phase I', where you hold yourself accountable for what you've done."

Her self esteem has grown, and she's happy to be a second-shift assistant in the facility.

Ellen Frazer of Marion, Ky., said she was court-ordered into treatment, and at first was simply happy to be there instead of in jail.

"I was in denial," says the 37-year-old who had worked as a medical transcriptionist. "I didn't think (my problem) was that a big a deal."

Nevertheless, she vowed to cooperate "and do whatever they asked me to do ... I learned about my (addiction) disease and the things I need to do. I received so much spiritual direction."

Mazzie Trent, 29, of Hazard, Ky., said she had become so tired of her life revolving around drugs and alcohol." She also says the center "gave me my life back" and noted without her treatment, her probable outcomes were incarceration or death.

The program, she said, taught her "to know who I am without being high."

She's staying on as a detox monitor and planning to give others "the hope that WARM has given me."

Kimberly Alsept of Sarasota, Fla., has a background in finance and health care, but acknowledges that she has been drinking for 15 of her 35 years.

WARM, she said, has taught her that "I don't have to understand everything or have an answer for everything."

Some things, she learned, are a matter of faith.

"This," Kimberly said, "is the model of what a recovery program should be."