OUR STORY

Stronger Together

I want you to know through our story there is hope, hope that can bring

you to other side of your addiction.  Hope that brings joy to your soul.

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It is with a compassionate heart and a dedication to my sister, and my

 niece who grew up with her father's addiction that Debra's House

will serve people in recovery.

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Ever since I can remember I wanted to take the saddest part of our lives and turn it into something good for someone..... Debra's House is named after my sister. She passed away in 1983 from a car accident, leaving behind three children. My parents and I helped raised her oldest child, He was nine at the time; he grew to believe a huge part of his heart was missing and turned to drugs.

Through many years of attempting to help him nothing prevailed, even after CPS court, he went back to using. He lost everyone and everything that mattered to him. I enabled him over and over believing I was helping him. After many, many years of his addiction affecting his life and our family, I walked away. I told him that I loved him and I pray everyday for him but my heart couldn't take it anymore. We did not speak for 3 years. 

Then, the day came when he called me and said "I'm ready, I need help." He detoxed in my home for three days until I was able to find help for him at Salvation Army. From there he went to a half-way house through Pine Rest for 30 days. I could not find any resources or any homes where he could stay on his new journey of staying sober and clean. He then went to the Homeless Shelter. He left the homeless shelter after a month, two main factors played into his decision. one, it was one of the coldest January in history. There were chores to do outside and his health was poor from many years of drug addiction. Though the major part in his decision was that he was not allowed to go to the methadone clinic. He felt the clinic played a vital part in his recovery.

 He moved to a motel for a year and then he lived in different places through-out the next two years. Places where it was difficult for him to stay clean but he did. Depression hit and he tried to take his own life. Addiction and depression can be a dual diagnosis. I am happy to say Depression did not win and Addiction did not win. They are both treatable diseases. He is clean and sober for almost 5 years now. 

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I feel if there had been a shared housing model at that time, things would have been easier for him.  I feel if there had been a quality clean and sober home it would have helped him in his new journey of re-creating himself.

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Your story might be a lot like our story, or it may be different but if there is addiction, it is a difficult story.  

And because of our story we now have a new vision. Our vision is to help men and women in a compassionate recovery so they don't have so many life obstacles, return to drug use, become depress or homeless. I hope you too will find a new vision on this new journey. I hope you will find Debra's house a house of healing.

Love Always,

Theresa

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