Pubdate: Wed, 16 Nov 2005
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2005, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: James B. Meadow

FORMER STREET PROSTITUTES START ON ROAD TO LIVES WORTH LIVING

There were no caps and gowns, no somber chords of Pomp and 
Circumstance, at Crystal Priest's commencement ceremony, but she 
couldn't have cared less. After all, it's not just any graduate who 
can lay claim to a baccalaureate in second chances.

Which is essentially what Priest and four other women did Tuesday. 
Under the sterile fluorescence of Courtroom 12T at the Denver Police 
Administration Detention Facility, they became the first graduates of 
the Chrysalis Project, which works to free street prostitutes from 
the yoke of drug dependency while dangling the carrot of dismissed 
criminal charges and - even better - the promise of a life suffused 
with self-worth instead of self-loathing.

"This represents a lot of hard work," said Priest, 31, staring at the 
framed certificate with gilded edges. "It's one of the most important 
things I've ever owned in my life."

Then, in a voice that dashed between humility and exultation, she 
added, "Life sometimes gives you second chances. This is my second 
chance, and I couldn't ask for anything better."

Less than a year ago, chances are what Priest would have been asking 
for was crack cocaine, her drug of addiction - the drug she thought 
she had conquered after five years of sobriety and productivity. But 
when her life began to disassemble, Priest found herself plummeting 
back toward bad habits, bad people, back toward a "crazy living hell."

Then, last February, she found herself back before the court on 
charges of prostitution. She had been there before, so many times, in 
fact, that "I don't know the number."

But this time it was different. This time she was offered the chance 
to have the prostitution charge thrown out. All she had to do was 
enroll in the Chrysalis Project.

Funded with a $450,000, three-year U.S. Department of Justice grant, 
the program is a public-private collaboration that focuses on 
prostitutes with substance-dependency issues. Offering mental health 
services along with classes in daily living skills and self-esteem, 
Chrysalis tries to help its participants make a U-turn on their road 
to self-destruction.

To do this, enrollees have to complete an individually tailored 
treatment program. The program includes components such as drug- 
and-alcohol rehab, therapy, job training or continuing education.

"But it's important to remember that this is not a 
get-out-of-jail-free card," said Sue Cobb, communications director of 
the Denver Department of Human Services, alluding to the fact that 
failure to remain "engaged" in the program will result in the 
reinstatement of jail sentences.

In fact, of the 50 initial recruits who enrolled in the program in 
February, only 23 are still actively participating, including the 
five who earned their "diplomas" Tuesday.

Priest confirmed that Chrysalis is no gimme, insisting, "They help 
you up, they don't hold you up.

"In the overall scheme of things, it's a personal thing," she said. 
"It's up to you to follow through."

But it also helps to have a "support system with people who 
understand me, who respect me, who care about me, who treat me with 
dignity and not like some terrible person - which I'm not."

Neither is Lea Sanchez. Sanchez, 27, another graduate - and the only 
one besides Priest who agreed to be identified - spent four years 
("too long") working as a prostitute to support her crack cocaine 
habit. Now, she's looking forward to better times and she credits 
Chrysalis because, "They don't just do their job, they enjoy doing 
their job, and that means something to me."

And to Priest as well. The woman who admitted that before Chrysalis, 
"I never ever in my life completed anything worthwhile," is about to 
land a job as a certifiednursing assistant, ministering to elderly 
people in nursing homes.

With a wry smile that indicated what she was saying was anything but 
funny, Priest remembered, "On the street, everybody wants something 
from you - your body, your money, your crack. There's desperate, 
crazy people out there."

Now, the streets where Crystal Priest walks aren't littered with 
despair, they're paved with hope and possibilities. And for Priest 
and Sanchez and the others who emerged from the Chrysalis Project, 
their commencement ceremony could be the start of something big.

Some Stay With It

50 initial recruits enrolled in the Chrysalis Project in February.

23 are still actively participating, including the five who earned 
their "diplomas" Tuesday.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman