Frank Boyett
September 19, 2008
The Gleaner
"Three
brave women stood before the Henderson Rotary Club
Thursday to tell how they've found their ways back after
their lives had come crashing down because of dependence
on drugs and alcohol.
Members of
the Rotary club are usually prompt about shooting out
the door when 1 p.m. rolls around. But every one of them
stayed until 1:30 Thursday when the club met at the
Women's Addiction Recovery Manor.
The women's
stories were inspiring and compelling. [Client A]
was a college professor who was addicted to crack
cocaine, living one life by day and another by night.
All that ended Nov. 10 when she was arrested for wanton
endangerment because she had been smoking crack in the
presence of her infant child.
Her arrest,
she said, was "the best thing that ever happened to me
in my life. It was excruciating; it was humiliating; it
was all over the newspapers. I sat in jail and watched
myself on the news. But today I'm free.
"I stand
before you today free of alcohol and drug addiction. For
20 years I had my own personal hell. I was pursued by
what I call the hounds of hell -- self-loathing and
addiction."
She has a
week left to go before she can return home. She still
faces criminal charges, but faces them with gratitude in
her heart for what WARM has helped her accomplish.
[Client B's]
drug of choice was oxycontin. She lost custody of her
children before she was forced to enter the program at
WARM. "I didn't think I had a problem," she said. It
wasn't until she had a relapse last October that she
finally admitted her addiction.
"Something
changed," she said. "I wanted this for myself. I wanted
a better life for me, to be able to be a better mother,
a better citizen, a better daughter. Words cannot
express my gratitude for WARM and for the people here. I
have a different life today; I'm a different person
today. I've finally found the person that God intended
for me to be."
[Client C]
is the daughter of a minister who was fired from her job
at Head Start after she began using methamphetamine. She
later began dealing meth and lost custody of her
children.
"I starting
selling more and more," she said. "I became addicted to
that lifestyle -- the money, the cars, the bikes. I had
everything, but I had no happiness."
For those
who bought in bulk, she said, she provided clean
syringes, something for which she feels profound guilt.
"Thank God I got caught. It's the best thing that's EVER
happened to me."
Nowadays she
helps new arrivals with housing, giving them "something
better than a clean syringe to stick in their arm."
Dale Sights,
chairman of the WARM board, introduced the three women
and explained how the center is funded, which is mostly
through government contracts, private investors and
philanthropy.
"We reside
in a very generous community," he said. "We've honestly
never had to ask for money. There are people who walk in
the door with checks. Some people send us a monthly
check."
The
Henderson community has been extremely supportive of the
WARM center, he said, noting there was no controversy
about where it would be located or how it would operate.
"It was just
another case of a wonderful community opening its arms
to a need," he said. "It's an experience we have on an
on-going basis. Whatever we need from this community in
terms of resources, love and understanding, compassion,
support -- many times we never have to ask for it. It
seems to come to us."
