Crossroads for Women Graduate Achieves Stability and Success

Congratulations to Josephine, recent Crossroads for Women graduate!  Josephine tried many treatment programs, but nothing ever worked for long.  After 16 years of life on the streets,  it took a while to adjust to the requirements of Crossroads, but now Josephine knows just how important it is to be fully engaged in her recovery — attending group, individual counseling, working with her case manager, checking in on a regular basis. “Crossroads makes us accountable for our behavior and ours actions,” she says. “It’s a new way of life for me, learning new skills — it’s been an amazing experience.”  Today, “This is the best I’ve ever felt.  This is the healthiest I’ve felt in my whole entire life.”

Josephine-graduates-2014-168x300Read Josephine’s entire story below:

Sounds great — a farm in Taos, with a river running through it, where they grew their own produce, raised their own meat. But it wasn’t all fun for Josephine. There was always work to be done, and all of the kids were put to work at a very early age. “I can’t ever remember not working as a child,” Josephine says; “I think I was born with a paint brush, a pot and pan, and a hoe…we all had our own hoes.” There were good times too, of course; with nine cousins on the farm next door, plus Josephine and her seven siblings, and a river running right through the land, things could get very exciting! “There’s a lot of good things about my childhood, but it was also a very difficult time for me,” she says. Josephine’s mother suffered from depression, and there was a lot of heartache and struggle in the family. “It was just too much for me, and I started running away at a really young age.” Josephine left for good when she was just 14, and pregnant. She married the father of her children, and had four kids by the time she was 22. The young couple moved to Albuquerque, and although Josephine managed to finish high school, they had a hard time of it.

Finally, in her mid-20s, Josephine wanted out and they separated. “That’s when I started to drink,” she says. “I didn’t think it was a problem at the time, but it turned into a very big problem for me. By the time I was 27, I had a drug and alcohol addiction.” She was also experiencing depression; “I was very erratic, I didn’t know what was wrong with me.” Eventually, Josephine married again, and much of the time the couple was homeless, because they were both drinking heavily. Some years later, her husband died of an overdose, leaving her on the streets alone — where she remained, for six long years.

Josephine tried many treatment programs, but nothing ever worked for long. She was also diagnosed bipolar. The medication required that she stop drinking; and she couldn’t stop drinking. So she didn’t take the medication. Things were not going well. In 2009, she got her fourth DUI and was facing 18 months in prison. “I was just desperate…I figured if I went to prison, at least I’d have a home and I’d be off the streets,” she says; “I was tired, I was weary; being homeless had worn me out.” Still, she mustered the strength to start making phone calls to various agencies, including Crossroads, which she had tried before. But this time she connected, and followed up, and was accepted, and finally started down the road to recovery; “For the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful,” she says.

It took Josephine a while to adjust to the requirements of Crossroads, but now she knows just how important it is to be fully engaged in her recovery — attending group, individual counseling, working with her case manager, reporting regularly. “Crossroads makes us accountable for our behavior and ours actions,” says Josephine. “It’s a new way of life for me, learning new skills — it’s been an amazing experience.” Today, “This is the best I’ve ever felt,” says Josephine; “This is the healthiest I’ve ever felt in my whole entire life.” And the future is looking good as well, as Josephine prepares to go back to school.

Written by Mary Bokuniewicz

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