Pubdate: Sun, 04 Nov 2007
Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO)
Copyright: 2007 The Springfield News-Leader
Contact:  http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129
Author: Linda Leicht
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

'WHEN YOU CLEAN UP, I'LL GIVE YOUR KIDS BACK'

Plenty of support, such as a promise from a judge and a  faith-based
residential program, helps addicts stay  clean.

Becky Ward knows what it is like to get a "new life"  after meth.

The 30-year-old woman took her first illegal drug,  marijuana, when
she was 12, discovered cocaine while  attending alternative school as
a teen and was selling  and using methamphetamine in her 20s. By the
time she  was 28, she was in prison.

Today, Ward is clean and straight. Her smiling face,  full figure,
bright blue eyes and shining blonde hair  are her testimony. She has
regained custody of all four  of her children and is the
owner/operator of a taxicab  business.

Samantha Sein has been clean and sober for five years,  after 10 years
of meth addiction that caused her to  lose her children and her health.

Today, at 36, she is healthy, has a good job and  finally has her
children back.

Getting to where these two woman are today took  courage,
determination and plenty of support.

It is a combination they hope others will gain through  an initiative
by the Laclede County Drug Council.

Ward was able to get support she needed from New Life  residential
center, a faith-based program for women who  are leaving prison. Sein
went to McCambridge Center for  Women, a 30-day rehab facility in
Columbia. The drug  council is working toward a similar program for
men and  women who want to get off meth.

Laura Valenti has seen what can happen when meth  addicts are given
consistent long-term help. The author  of "Ozark Meth," a book that
chronicles stories of  recovery, is a member of both the drug council
and the  New Life board, and she worked for 10 years at the  Laclede
County Jail.

"I was Becky's jailer," says Valenti, who stepped down  from the jail
administrator position in 2004. "Like St.  Paul."

Ward was no saint. Drugs were a major part of her life  for so long
they became her financial and emotional  support. Today, she turns to
God to see her through.  Her faith was her only support during the six
months  she spent in prison.

"I just prayed," Ward says.

Deciding to quit

Finding sobriety is a personal commitment, Sein says.  Friends,
family, police all tried to tell her it was  time to quit, but she
needed to decide that for  herself.

That happened when she failed a drug test three times  in one month
while she was on probation. Her bond was  revoked and she sent back to
prison. She lost custody  of her two children.

"Losing my kids was rock bottom," she says.

The last five years have been filled with ups and downs  as she
battled her addiction and pancreatitis brought  on by her drug use.

But the promise from a judge -- "When you clean up,  I'll give your
kids back" -- kept her sober. In March,  she gained custody.

But she still battles meth demons. She has nightmares  of buying and
taking drugs that are so real she fears  they are real. She still
remembers the "foul-smelling  oil" that oozed from her body as she
went through  detox.

"I was so ashamed," she says.

And she shudders at the memory of a recent phone call  from two
"friends" from her past. They had just gotten  out of prison on
charges that stemmed from the drug  bust that led to her arrest.

"When I told them (I had quit), they said they were  proud of me," she
recalls. "They haven't bothered me  since, but I'm scared."

Birth and Rebirth

Ward was in prison when she learned that she was  pregnant with her
fourth child. Her husband met another  woman and left with her and
Ward's three children.

"I was tired," Becky recalls. "I had a kid on the way  and no way to
raise her. ... I was done."

She remembered the women from New Life Ministries who  would visit the
Laclede County jail every Thursday  night. She knew it was her only
answer.

On June 21, 2006, Rebecca Jo was born in a prison  hospital. Becky
held her only a few hours before her  baby went to live with a
Mennonite family, part of a  ministry to help new mothers in prison
maintain custody  of their babies.

"It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life," Becky  says, the
pain still fresh on her face.

On July 17, she was paroled. She picked up her tiny  daughter but soon
had to give her up again, this time  to Becky's mother while Becky
went to live at the New  Life House, a halfway house for women leaving
prison.  She had applied for the program while still in prison,
proposing it as the "home plan" required for parolees.

For the next nearly three months, Becky lived under the  structured
rules of the house. She found a job,  attended 12-step support group
meetings, went to  church, avoided contact with previous "friends"
from  her meth years and learned how to live without drugs.

She saved her money for a lawyer so she could get her  three older
children back. When she succeeded, it meant  she had to leave the New
Life House, which doesn't  allow children.

But she still makes regular visits, attends programs  and supports
their ministry.

"She did a wise thing," says Valenti, sitting next to  her at the
round kitchen table at the New Life House.  "She stays in contact."
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