Stories
Gayla V.
No one says when they are born they want to be an addict when they grow up. My love affair began at the age of seventeen; it was one that started out just like a fairy tale. I had two lovers, drugs and alcohol, which were inseparable. We hung tough and at first they both gave me the world.
One day the love turned into obsession and violence. I began to sell my body to buy their love. I turned tricks during the day to feed the obsession at night. To satisfy my lovers, I did unspeakable things with and to my body. The next thing I knew, I was in and out of jail, sleeping outside in a make shift tent, not bathing, and eating out of trash cans. Now their mission was to kill me. Once I was violently raped, stabbed and left to die – and the only thing I wanted was another drink or another hit.
When I was arrested on September 20, 2007 my love affair with drugs and alcohol finally ended. Being arrested was like being rescued. I was ready to change so I surrendered my will to God. My prayers were answered when I went to court and was offered the STAR drug court program. I knew God had a plan for me when He started the operation that would change my life. I was taken to the STAR Court Memorial Hospital and introduced to Dr. Devon Anderson and her staff. I soon discovered I was in the care of professionals that specialized in putting lives back together. After my operation, I was moved into my recovery room, the Omega Alpha House residential treatment facility in Dickinson, Texas. There Lillie Henderson began nursing me back to health. My stay in the recovery room was followed by physical therapy at the Women’s Home. Each step got me closer to a full recovery.
In Recovery, I have accomplished a lot. I regained my self respect and dignity and earned my G.E.D. Star Court Memorial, a hospital that provides you with the one thing that no other hospital can provide you – HOPE! I hear people say they have never seen God, but I see Him every day in the STAR Court team. Because of STAR, you can see Him in me. God is loving, kind, patient, compassionate – not jealous, but forgiving, and understanding. He shows up and shows out – look at me.
Sydrena R.
I first became an addict when I was 9 years old. I grew up in an abusive household. My father was abusive and the abuse lead to me being raised by a single parent, my mother. When I was growing up, my relationship with my mother was one of verbal abuse. My drinking and drug use progressed throughout high school. I ended up dropping out of school because of the addiction. Then I became a full time addict. I went to county jail, state jail, and prison. My addiction became worse until I couldn’t function without drugs and alcohol. Throughout my addiction I was raped and abused which brought on other mental and physical issues.
In 1992 I found out that I was HIV positive. From that point on I felt like my life was over. I had more prison time and was homeless. Because of unsafe sex I stopped caring about myself, lost my self esteem and self worth.
In 2007 I was picked up and awarded an opportunity to become a client of STAR drug court. I actually prayed for something to change my life and for something to show me how to live a productive life. I received the program the next day. If I went to state jail and then home, I knew I was going to get high again. I wanted help.
Becoming a part of STAR, you must be willing, have a made up mind, and go the extra mile. It has been a lot of hard work, but being a client has awarded me the opportunity to work on my addictive behavior, my abuse, my being HIV positive. But most of all, the program taught me how to be a woman.
Life now is amazing. I am active in carrying the message to treatment facilities, prisons, in my community, my church, and even at my job. What I’ve learned in this process is that I no longer have to be ashamed of what I’ve done, what I’ve been through, who I was, and who God created me to be. I am no longer to afraid to share me with other people and the world!
Alex P.
I had the best childhood a child could have. Even so, I started drinking alcohol in my early teens and when I went to high school, I started using drugs to fit in. I went to treatment for the first time at age 15, but it didn’t help. Over the years, my drug use got worse – it was all I did on a daily basis. The people who loved me kept paying for me to go to treatment, but I didn’t stop using. I had convinced myself that I wasn’t like those other people in treatment. In my mind, I wasn’t an addict and everyone else in treatment was much worse off. I was put into STAR Court and entered into outpatient treatment, but I was still using and drinking. The very next week, after admitting my continued use, I was placed back in custody. After a few days in the county jail, STAR sent me to inpatient treatment at Pathway to Recovery. A few weeks later, I used while on pass. So it was back in custody for 102 days, during which time completed the lock down residential treatment program. After being successfully discharged I started outpatient again, but was arrested for a DWI less than month later. STAR gave me one last chance and sent back to Pathway for more treatment.
It wasn’t until I got my (first and last) 90 day chip in STAR Court that I finally decided to do something about my addiction and not just go through the motions. I was checking out in a grocery store, and I pulled out the 90 day chip Judge Thomas gave me along with my wallet. I noticed a man behind me look at the chip—and I didn’t care. I finally realized that I was in acceptance of my addiction and not embarrassed about being in recovery.
After treatment, it wasn’t easy. I trusted people in my family and home groups who told me “don’t give up!” For the first two years, I was on medications. I took a sleep aid, antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills. My doctor slowly weaned me off those medications; it was very hard because I used to self-medicate. To get through the process, I talked a lot in meetings. Today, I go to meetings on a daily basis, chair as many meetings possible, volunteer regularly, serve on a convention committee and sponsor new comers. Life is wonderful now!
Elizabeth T.
I started using drugs when I was 14. My little brother had a tragic accident at 3 years old which left him handicapped. My mom was into drugs, and it got worse in the wake of his accident. My grandparents helped out a lot, but when they decided to move away, I lost my reason to keep it together. My dad tried to get me help, but I never did anything for myself because I didn’t want it. I heard about STAR in jail, and wanted to try it.
Before my most recent arrest, my life was not worth living. I was stuck in a vicious cycle moving towards death. I woke up each morning wondering how I was going to get enough money to buy heroin. Without it, I could not get out of bed. I stole and scammed from my own family. Even my own toddler could not motivate me to get straight. Nothing could. I knew that I didn’t want to live like this but I did not know how to stop. It was like I was trapped in my own prison and could not escape. All I wanted was to be able to get out of bed, take care of my son, and work like the rest of the world. That’s why I wanted to get into the STAR court program. I knew this program was formed to help addicts achieve long-term sobriety instead of just punishing them for their crime.
Right before I got arrested, I checked myself into treatment. After I detoxed, I came home to find that my 2 year old son’s dad had left me. When I went to treatment in STAR, Oliver started to lose his hair because of the stress of losing both his parents. That’s when it changed in me. I couldn’t lose my son. So I followed the rules, grew up real quick by being a good parent and good daughter, working the 12 step and asking God to remove my shortcomings.
The STAR program laid out the blue print and all I had to do was follow it. It worked. It helped me to form a strong foundation of recovery so that I can be the person I always wanted to be. Instead of waking up each day wondering how I can score drugs, I wake up, take care of my four year old, then head off to work and school. It’s like my life has resumed where it left off before I did my first drugs. I am a successful, proud and happy single mother. My life is no longer an empty black hole that is not worth living. I am forever grateful for the STAR court team for taking a chance on me. You have not only impacted my life, you have also impacted my son’s, and my entire family’s. For that we are truly grateful.