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(thoughtful music)

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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- [Lucy] I can remember, around
the age of six years old,

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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being outside in the
front, playing in the yard

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and all of a sudden an
ambulance showed up.

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And they went and out comes
my mother on a stretcher.

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And my sister was with her
and another aunt was with her

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and they all got in the ambulance

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and they drove away with my mom.

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Mommy was ill and needed
to go see the doctor

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is what I was told.

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(suspenseful music)

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We're in the bedroom
and then comes Marsha,

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screaming, crying, "Mommy's
gone, Mommy's gone."

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I had two or three sisters
who were still there,

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Yvonne and Eloise and they
start, "What do you mean?"

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Screaming back and there's
all of this commotion,

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all of a sudden in the house.

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There's just all this noise
and I was a timid kid,

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I used to cry when the ambulance came,

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I used to cry when the firetrucks came.

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You know, there was always a fire truck

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or an ambulance coming because of Mommy.

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And so that night,
Marsha said she was gone.

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And little did I know
that meant Mommy was gone,

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she was dead, she was gone and
was never coming back again.

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(heartfelt music)

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Later I came to realize

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that my mom had drink herself
to death from alcoholism.

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She couldn't stop, every
single day of her life,

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my mom drank.

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And I aint realize that
until I realized later on,

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my family was disappearing
from this deadly disease,

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known as addiction.

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There's my brother Larry,

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the day before his
graduation from high school,

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he died from a heroin overdose.

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Then my brother Stevie,
who was my oldest brother,

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I can remember the day they said,

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they found him in the bathroom
with a needle in his arm.

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He had overdosed.

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And then my mom's sister, my Aunt Nezzie,

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she also died from alcoholism.

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And my grandmother.

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Addiction was in my blood.

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I had inherited that.

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But God had another plan for my life.

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(upbeat music)

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- [Lucy] Here's where you want me?

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- [Interviewer] You comfortable?

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- I am.
- All right.

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- What would you like for
me to say to you today.

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It's good to see you again, my brother.

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All right.

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(laughing)

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- So, Lucy, how did this all start,

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this whole documentary process?

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(heartfelt music)

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- I met you and you said,

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"I wanna write a Mary Hall story."

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And you begin to tell me about why,

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because of your own journey with your dad.

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And not knowing about how to get him help.

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And not knowing that
there are many families

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and people out there who don't know,

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that help is available.

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And you said, "That's what I wanna do

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"with my own company.

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"I wanna tell the story to the world."

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So here you came with
how you wanted to do it.

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And I was like, "Okay.

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"You know, if you wanna do
this, I wanna do it with you."

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Because that's always being my desire,

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is that people know
that help is available.

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- [Narrator] In the U.S.
over 20 million people,

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seek treatment for
substance abuse each year.

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Less than 10% actually
receive the help they need.

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But there's hope.

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(dramatic music)

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Growing up, I saw my father drink daily

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and eventually loose his job, his home

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and his freedom to addiction.

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At first I was angry and just
wanted to fix things quickly.

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But I didn't know what, if
anything, I could do about it,

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until I met Lucy.

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Her epic journey from dope to hope

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has become a beacon of light
for generations of women

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at Mary Hall Freedom House.

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And has shifted my views
on addiction completely.

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I went from having contempt
for recovering addicts

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to admiration for their
strength and courage.

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Lucy has given our cameras
full assess to their program,

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from now until graduation,
so we may all have a look

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at the strength and courage and recovery.

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- This is like a lot of sister's bottom.

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We take women, that a lot of
other people wouldn't take.

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So, there's two different
things that happen,

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there's your treatment and
then there's your housing.

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We have selected probably
about seven ladies

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simply 'cause like I
said, I'm not quite sure,

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who will get across the finish line.

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And I know you wanted to
follow like four of them,

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but I say, well let's give
you almost double that.

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'Cause you know, I always
say, if I give you seven,

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two of them may not make it.

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- [Narrator] Before we meet
the women she has in treatment,

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I ask Lucy to share how she
discovered recovery for herself.

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(suspenseful music)

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So my cousin introduced me to marijuana.

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And I started hanging with
this guy in Manhattan,

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who I thought was the love of my life.

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And this guy introduced me to crack.

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And I can remember that's
all I was living for,

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day in and day out.

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Everyday, I got up to
use and I used to live,

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by any means necessary.

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Stealing, lying, cheating, selling me,

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selling you, selling
whatever had to happen

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to get high that day.

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(thought-provoking music)

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At this point I was boosting, shoplifting

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to support my habit.

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And I remember the day they said,

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"You have the right to remain silent."

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'Cause they caught me.

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And I remember crying so bad,

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while the police officer
was putting handcuffs on me.

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He said, "Girl, get in the car."

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And then I found out I was pregnant.

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I knew that the cycle
was gonna begin again.

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My biggest fear, not was I
was gonna die like they did,

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but now was gonna die

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and not let her have a mother like I did.

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(upbeat music)

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I went to court and they
put me on probation.

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When I went to that probation officer,

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and she said to me, "I need
for you to go pee in a cup."

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And I asked her why?

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And she said, "'Cause I need
to see if you do drugs."

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And I said, "Well, I do."

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And she said, "What did you say?"

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I said, "I do."

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I didn't even know at that point,

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I was supposed to lie to her.

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And so she said, "Well,
what you wanna do about it?"

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I said, "Well, what am I
supposed to do about it?"

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'Cause I always thought
the end result was death.

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And so, she said, "Well,

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"I'm gonna send you to
a treatment program."

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And I said, "Well, what is that?"

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And so, she started making phone calls

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and I'm sitting there in
her office listening to her,

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trying to get me into a treatment program.

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And I remember it was a
Friday, it was Friday evening

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an afternoon and I'm sitting in her office

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and she's making these
phone calls and she hangs up

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and she says, "Well, do
you wanna go to treatment?"

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And I said, "Well, yeah
but I can't go today."

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You know, 'cause my
thing was, it's Friday,

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aint nobody gonna go to
treatment on a Friday,

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I'm gonna leave here, I'm
going across the street.

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Macy's, I saw Macy's coming
in the door and I said,

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"Well, I gotta make
arrangements for my daughter."

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And da-di-da-di-da, I gave
up a bunch of excuses.

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And so she said, "Okay,

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"well I got you a bed for Monday."

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So I said, "Okay."

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I remember leaving that
probation officers office

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and going right across
the street to Macy's

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with my daughter and stealing.

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And then going straight
downtown and buying dope.

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(thought-provoking music)

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That Monday came, my sister
took me up to White Plains,

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New York to detox.

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And I remember telling my Councilor, Mark,

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my biggest fear was I was
gonna die like my mother died

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and never see Mary grow up.

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And he said, "Guess what Lucy?

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"You gonna die one day, but you don't have

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"to die like they did."

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That was when he sold me the hope.

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I knew then, that I could do this,

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one day at a time.

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And if you can catch that glimmer of hope,

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before you know it, it
becomes what you live for,

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what you look for.

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Everyday I began to look for,
where's the hope of this day.

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What can I do, I can't
go back, I can't go back.

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Because somebody had opened
the door and let me out.

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That's where my journey began.

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And that same hope, is what I wanna give

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to women everyday at
Mary Hall Freedom House,

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hope became the product that we sell.

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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] This condo
in Sandy Springs, Georgia

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is one of many community
housing apartments provided

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for the woman in treatment.

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- [Lucy] Actually, we bought 33 units

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and we were gifted three,

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so we have 36 units out of this 90.

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And God is gonna bless
up to own all 90 of them.

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- [Narrator] Beyond the housing,

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Mary Hall Freedom House provides,

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Lucy gives me a full tour
of her Work NOW Program,

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where the women regain their hope,

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in the form of job training.

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And the daycare,

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where they nurture the
future hopes of the children.

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Giving these families an opportunity

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to stop generational cycles of drug abuse.

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An opportunity Lucy's mother never had.

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- My mom's name was Mary and
then it was my daughter Mary.

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My reason for getting clean and sober.

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So Mary Hall Freedom House, is the door

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that's open for every woman to
break the cycle of addiction,

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homelessness and poverty.

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So every day of my life,
I see the two Mary's,

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my mother and my daughter,
who are my story.

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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] This is Lucy's village.

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A place where curses are broken

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and for many other women she
serves, it's their last hope.

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- My name is Amanda Smith.

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I have eight months clean.

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First time ever since I
started using it, like 15.

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In my mind, I'm thinking,
I'm gonna come to this like,

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homeless shelter and it's
just gonna be terrible.

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Like I did not know what to expect.

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(suspenseful music)

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And so we pull into the parking lot

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and I hadn't being
outside, like in sunshine,

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in months.

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Really, and so, I'm in my own clothes now

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and I've gotten some of my belongings back

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and they let me out and I'm walking in

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and I remember coming up to the front desk

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and I was still in shackles.

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And Miss. Moraine was like,
"Can you take those off,

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"like we don't do that here."

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And I was like, "Yes, take them off."

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We did my intake
interview, she's asking me,

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you know, are you and IV
drug user, are you homeless?

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And I was just like, "But I have money,

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like, I don't need to do this."

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And so it wasn't like I was adverse to it,

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it kind of like became my only option.

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(upbeat music)

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- When women arrive at
Mary Hope Freedom House,

250
00:12:37,923 --> 00:12:39,157
we do a full assessment,

251
00:12:39,157 --> 00:12:41,265
just like when you're
at your doctors office.

252
00:12:41,265 --> 00:12:44,508
We assess their mental
health, their physical health,

253
00:12:44,508 --> 00:12:46,413
what drugs they've being using.

254
00:12:46,413 --> 00:12:48,196
And then they sit down
with their Councilor

255
00:12:48,196 --> 00:12:50,425
and then map out their road for recovery.

256
00:12:50,425 --> 00:12:52,168
Sometimes when we look at people,

257
00:12:52,168 --> 00:12:55,340
we make judgment calls
from our human side.

258
00:12:55,340 --> 00:12:56,556
Then you hear their story

259
00:12:56,556 --> 00:12:58,867
and they will open your heart to reality.

260
00:12:58,867 --> 00:12:59,921
It could be me.

261
00:12:59,921 --> 00:13:02,921
(suspenseful music)

262
00:13:03,771 --> 00:13:05,839
- I've always done really well in school,

263
00:13:05,839 --> 00:13:09,122
it's something that I
really get a lot out of.

264
00:13:09,122 --> 00:13:13,109
I finished my education at
Appalachian, where I got my,

265
00:13:13,109 --> 00:13:15,809
I finished with International
Business in Spanish,

266
00:13:15,809 --> 00:13:17,957
studied abroad in Seville.

267
00:13:17,957 --> 00:13:21,686
While I was there, that's
when I moved down to Atlanta,

268
00:13:21,686 --> 00:13:23,875
I'd gotten a job in logistics.

269
00:13:23,875 --> 00:13:27,685
And I got down here, things
kind of just took a turn

270
00:13:27,685 --> 00:13:29,347
for the worst almost immediately.

271
00:13:29,347 --> 00:13:32,347
(suspenseful music)

272
00:13:34,130 --> 00:13:38,426
I was able to maintain
the life of addictions

273
00:13:38,426 --> 00:13:41,223
and then this other
side, who was successful,

274
00:13:41,223 --> 00:13:45,479
college student, grad
student, you know, employee.

275
00:13:45,479 --> 00:13:46,695
The night before we moved to Atlanta,

276
00:13:46,695 --> 00:13:48,073
we're from North Carolina,

277
00:13:48,073 --> 00:13:51,227
we spent each, about five
or $600 on pain pills.

278
00:13:51,227 --> 00:13:53,051
And we get down to Atlanta

279
00:13:53,051 --> 00:13:54,713
and I remember all the pills were out,

280
00:13:54,713 --> 00:13:56,821
within 24 hours, they were gone.

281
00:13:56,821 --> 00:14:00,347
And I had to start a
new job in three days,

282
00:14:00,347 --> 00:14:01,880
so I was just like, what am I gonna do,

283
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,968
I'm like, incredibly
dope-sick, I can't function.

284
00:14:04,968 --> 00:14:08,413
And so, I ended up Googling
open-air heroin markets,

285
00:14:08,413 --> 00:14:11,169
in Atlanta Georgia, I
met like two drug dealers

286
00:14:11,169 --> 00:14:12,467
within like five seconds.

287
00:14:12,467 --> 00:14:15,831
And so, that's how the
heroin really started

288
00:14:15,831 --> 00:14:19,081
and I'd started using IV at that point.

289
00:14:21,870 --> 00:14:24,964
So, the difference between
the program I'm in now

290
00:14:24,964 --> 00:14:28,881
and the six ones I've
being to prior, are huge.

291
00:14:30,854 --> 00:14:32,556
This is the first one I've being to,

292
00:14:32,556 --> 00:14:35,191
where you don't have to
pay anything to get in.

293
00:14:35,191 --> 00:14:38,961
Whereas, the previous treatment
centers I've being in,

294
00:14:38,961 --> 00:14:42,933
have being much more short-term,
insurance paid for those.

295
00:14:42,933 --> 00:14:47,392
I mean, I know they range
upward, it's like 15,000 and up,

296
00:14:47,392 --> 00:14:48,486
you know, to go to them.

297
00:14:48,486 --> 00:14:49,945
Most of them were 30 days.

298
00:14:49,945 --> 00:14:52,695
I've stayed 30 days at maybe two.

299
00:14:53,917 --> 00:14:55,620
And the truth is, 30 days,

300
00:14:55,620 --> 00:14:58,787
just isn't long enough to do anything.

301
00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,320
- My name is Shyanna
Holm, I'm 28 years old

302
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,130
and how I found out about
Mary Hall Freedom House was,

303
00:15:07,130 --> 00:15:08,549
I was incarcerated.

304
00:15:08,549 --> 00:15:11,549
(suspenseful music)

305
00:15:14,791 --> 00:15:17,953
New Years Eve, you know you
wanna turn up a little bit,

306
00:15:17,953 --> 00:15:19,047
take a couple of shots,

307
00:15:19,047 --> 00:15:23,417
a couple will turn into
the whole bottle, for me.

308
00:15:23,417 --> 00:15:26,132
I don't know my limit, I
have to say that no I don't.

309
00:15:26,132 --> 00:15:30,064
So, man, I was more so
drinking out of anger as well.

310
00:15:30,064 --> 00:15:32,091
I'm just that person, I drink my feelings.

311
00:15:32,091 --> 00:15:36,174
Me and my mother got into
a physical altercation.

312
00:15:38,252 --> 00:15:41,251
And then I found out I was
pregnant, the day I went to jail.

313
00:15:41,251 --> 00:15:42,792
And I was there for about eight months

314
00:15:42,792 --> 00:15:46,000
and my bunkie kept talking
about Mary Hall, Mary Hall

315
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,499
and she was like, the program's,

316
00:15:47,499 --> 00:15:49,729
gonna help me get my life together.

317
00:15:49,729 --> 00:15:52,896
Like and they care for pregnant girls.

318
00:15:54,282 --> 00:15:55,795
So, I called.

319
00:15:55,795 --> 00:15:58,223
This is my daughter, SAYURI.

320
00:15:58,223 --> 00:16:00,493
She's seven, she'll be seven on Sunday.

321
00:16:00,493 --> 00:16:04,542
And this is SIREER and he'll
be five months on her birthday.

322
00:16:04,542 --> 00:16:05,515
(sneezing)

323
00:16:05,515 --> 00:16:06,348
Bless you.

324
00:16:07,258 --> 00:16:10,175
My first 30 days were overwhelming,

325
00:16:11,514 --> 00:16:16,013
I mean it was overwhelming
'cause it's a new environment.

326
00:16:16,013 --> 00:16:17,934
I had both my kids here with me,

327
00:16:17,934 --> 00:16:20,002
so I had to learn the routine.

328
00:16:20,002 --> 00:16:22,555
(upbeat music)

329
00:16:22,555 --> 00:16:23,388
Morning.

330
00:16:24,781 --> 00:16:26,447
Hey, Britney.

331
00:16:26,447 --> 00:16:29,197
So she's off to the bus at seven.

332
00:16:30,540 --> 00:16:32,207
One down, one to go.

333
00:16:33,905 --> 00:16:38,890
Hey (laughs), just found Jessica.

334
00:16:38,890 --> 00:16:42,313
Now that he's in daycare, I
do so living more independent.

335
00:16:42,313 --> 00:16:45,500
All right, we are good to go.

336
00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:48,297
My goal is to graduate in June.

337
00:16:48,297 --> 00:16:51,134
You know, be an example for my children,

338
00:16:51,134 --> 00:16:54,467
for my sisters, who still use, you know.

339
00:16:55,795 --> 00:16:57,376
For my mother.

340
00:16:57,376 --> 00:16:59,646
I don't know if she's with
me or against me right now

341
00:16:59,646 --> 00:17:03,902
but I wanna show her that,
I'm sincere about this.

342
00:17:03,902 --> 00:17:07,023
This is what I wanna do and
I've got the right help.

343
00:17:07,023 --> 00:17:09,496
And now I'm able to take
these skills with me,

344
00:17:09,496 --> 00:17:10,914
wherever I go.

345
00:17:10,914 --> 00:17:13,299
(upbeat music)

346
00:17:13,299 --> 00:17:14,132
- Hi.
- Hi.

347
00:17:16,627 --> 00:17:19,652
- When you hit bottom, most
of us say, "God help me."

348
00:17:19,652 --> 00:17:22,733
And you start negotiating
with God on that hit you took,

349
00:17:22,733 --> 00:17:24,273
or that high you were on,

350
00:17:24,273 --> 00:17:27,394
or that right to remain
silent opportunity you had.

351
00:17:27,394 --> 00:17:31,893
You say, "God, if you get me
outta this, I'll do, what?"

352
00:17:31,893 --> 00:17:33,231
- Anything.
- Anything.

353
00:17:33,231 --> 00:17:35,097
Most of us said that to God.

354
00:17:35,097 --> 00:17:38,925
But anyway, once you got up
and you got on your do-nothing,

355
00:17:38,925 --> 00:17:42,028
you decided, okay God,
I'll take my will back.

356
00:17:42,028 --> 00:17:45,109
So every Monday meeting, I do
what I call community meeting,

357
00:17:45,109 --> 00:17:48,514
every Monday morning 'cause I
always want the women to know,

358
00:17:48,514 --> 00:17:50,419
I'm a part of this with you.

359
00:17:50,419 --> 00:17:54,294
How many of us can say,
"I've tried recovery,

360
00:17:54,294 --> 00:17:57,870
"almost 10 times, if
not 10 times or more?"

361
00:17:57,870 --> 00:18:00,667
Yeah, there's a few of us,
this aint your first rodeo.

362
00:18:00,667 --> 00:18:01,883
- Right.
- Right.

363
00:18:01,883 --> 00:18:04,315
For most of us, we've
being around this before.

364
00:18:04,315 --> 00:18:07,801
But what's different this
time lies before you?

365
00:18:07,801 --> 00:18:10,760
And so, I challenge you, 'cause
some of us have this thing

366
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,489
that's like, huh-um,
can't do the God thing.

367
00:18:14,489 --> 00:18:17,083
Then what else you gonna do?

368
00:18:17,083 --> 00:18:18,664
What else you gonna do?

369
00:18:18,664 --> 00:18:21,096
Just tell me what are the
other things that you can do,

370
00:18:21,096 --> 00:18:24,906
if it's not truly stepping
into a relationship with God.

371
00:18:24,906 --> 00:18:27,460
The one true living One, who created you

372
00:18:27,460 --> 00:18:30,054
and just gave you life,
just gave it to you,

373
00:18:30,054 --> 00:18:32,486
it didn't cost you nothing.

374
00:18:32,486 --> 00:18:34,472
So what are you gonna do differently?

375
00:18:34,472 --> 00:18:38,728
Where's your hope gonna
be, in terms of a future?

376
00:18:38,728 --> 00:18:40,755
You know, where's your help coming from?

377
00:18:40,755 --> 00:18:43,694
'Cause if you're just buying time,

378
00:18:43,694 --> 00:18:45,923
right, just to keep outta the jail,

379
00:18:45,923 --> 00:18:47,910
because the judge said,
"I'm gonna give you a break

380
00:18:47,910 --> 00:18:50,868
"and let you go over to
this place called Mary Hall,

381
00:18:50,868 --> 00:18:53,868
"in exchange for you
doing the right thing."

382
00:18:53,868 --> 00:18:56,057
Or, you said, "I'm coming,

383
00:18:56,057 --> 00:18:59,366
"because I don't want
DFCS to take my kids."

384
00:18:59,366 --> 00:19:03,294
Or, because their relationship
ended, and I want it back.

385
00:19:03,294 --> 00:19:05,877
What on earth are you here for?

386
00:19:07,590 --> 00:19:10,173
What on earth are you here for?

387
00:19:11,076 --> 00:19:14,708
(thought-provoking music)

388
00:19:14,708 --> 00:19:16,948
I think it was, when I
was in the halfway house

389
00:19:16,948 --> 00:19:21,082
that I realized that it
was about living this way.

390
00:19:21,082 --> 00:19:23,271
It wasn't about a 28 day program,

391
00:19:23,271 --> 00:19:25,379
it wasn't about the detox program,

392
00:19:25,379 --> 00:19:28,776
it wasn't about, you know,
going up to Saranac Lake

393
00:19:28,776 --> 00:19:31,329
for treatment for seven weeks,

394
00:19:31,329 --> 00:19:36,329
it was about one day at a
time for the rest of my life.

395
00:19:36,355 --> 00:19:39,355
(suspenseful music)

396
00:19:41,949 --> 00:19:45,354
And, I went to this halfway
house and it was like,

397
00:19:45,354 --> 00:19:49,123
probably like 10 woman
living in a little old house.

398
00:19:49,123 --> 00:19:51,393
And it was like being in a college dorm.

399
00:19:51,393 --> 00:19:54,150
And we learning life on
life turning at that point.

400
00:19:54,150 --> 00:19:56,379
And we were learning how to
do this thing a day at a time.

401
00:19:56,379 --> 00:19:58,811
Go get a job, go to meetings.

402
00:19:58,811 --> 00:20:00,676
Come home and have dinner, go to bed.

403
00:20:00,676 --> 00:20:01,843
Living normal.

404
00:20:06,629 --> 00:20:09,953
But even in the halfway
house, my behavior,

405
00:20:09,953 --> 00:20:13,276
I remember that booster, I
remember going to the mall

406
00:20:13,276 --> 00:20:16,256
and stealing something, even in recovery.

407
00:20:16,256 --> 00:20:19,296
'Cause I had not learned,
I wasn't well yet.

408
00:20:19,296 --> 00:20:21,930
I still had the behaviors of my addiction.

409
00:20:21,930 --> 00:20:23,187
But this time when I went

410
00:20:23,187 --> 00:20:26,227
and stole something from the store,

411
00:20:26,227 --> 00:20:28,664
it felt strange, it felt like,

412
00:20:28,664 --> 00:20:30,163
that aint who you are no more.

413
00:20:30,163 --> 00:20:32,393
That's not what you suppose to be doing.

414
00:20:32,393 --> 00:20:34,744
So I remember calling up the sponsor I had

415
00:20:34,744 --> 00:20:37,419
and I told her, I just stole
something from the store

416
00:20:37,419 --> 00:20:39,094
and I feel awful about it.

417
00:20:39,094 --> 00:20:42,215
And she said, "Well, if you
really feel bad, take it back."

418
00:20:42,215 --> 00:20:43,229
I was like, "What?"

419
00:20:43,229 --> 00:20:44,364
She said, "Take it back."

420
00:20:44,364 --> 00:20:45,944
I was like, "Take it back?"

421
00:20:45,944 --> 00:20:49,390
She's like, "Lucy, that's
not who you are anymore.

422
00:20:49,390 --> 00:20:51,173
"Go take it back."

423
00:20:51,173 --> 00:20:53,840
(anxious music)

424
00:21:00,556 --> 00:21:01,975
I was like, "Wow."

425
00:21:01,975 --> 00:21:04,276
And I couldn't tell nobody
in the halfway house

426
00:21:04,276 --> 00:21:05,857
and I remember saying to Dorothy,

427
00:21:05,857 --> 00:21:09,524
a girl who was in the
halfway house with me,

428
00:21:11,896 --> 00:21:13,720
"I need for you to go
with me to the mall."

429
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,382
(excited music)

430
00:21:16,382 --> 00:21:20,047
So we go back to the mall
and go back to the store

431
00:21:20,047 --> 00:21:22,722
and have a bag and I walk in the store

432
00:21:22,722 --> 00:21:23,938
and woman says, "Can I help you?"

433
00:21:23,938 --> 00:21:25,195
I said, "Yeah, I have a return."

434
00:21:25,195 --> 00:21:27,528
And I put it on the counter.

435
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:29,978
And I said, "Well, I'm
just gonna walk around

436
00:21:29,978 --> 00:21:32,410
"and see what else I
want to exchange it for."

437
00:21:32,410 --> 00:21:34,436
She said, "Oh, take your time, go ahead."

438
00:21:34,436 --> 00:21:38,031
(mischievous music)

439
00:21:38,031 --> 00:21:39,977
So I'm walking around the
store, walking around the store,

440
00:21:39,977 --> 00:21:42,394
the salesgirl starts working.

441
00:21:47,556 --> 00:21:49,543
And I said to Dorothy,
"Come on, let's go."

442
00:21:49,543 --> 00:21:51,204
Dorothy said, "Well, Lucy
you're leaving your bag."

443
00:21:51,204 --> 00:21:52,951
I said, "Shut up, come on, let's go."

444
00:21:52,951 --> 00:21:55,618
(excited music)

445
00:21:57,601 --> 00:21:59,465
And we hurried up and got out that store.

446
00:21:59,465 --> 00:22:00,559
She's like, "Well, why you do that?"

447
00:22:00,559 --> 00:22:03,640
I said, "Just shut up,
let's go, let's go."

448
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:04,828
And I remember saying,

449
00:22:04,828 --> 00:22:06,434
"I aint ever gonna steal nothing else,

450
00:22:06,434 --> 00:22:08,217
"'cause that was harder than stealing it.

451
00:22:08,217 --> 00:22:11,217
"Returning it back, I
aint doing that no more."

452
00:22:11,217 --> 00:22:13,851
That became my first honest moment.

453
00:22:13,851 --> 00:22:16,945
And that's the first step of
recovery, of being honest.

454
00:22:16,945 --> 00:22:18,852
(upbeat music)

455
00:22:18,852 --> 00:22:20,432
All right, ladies, we gonna get started.

456
00:22:20,432 --> 00:22:21,917
Hey, how's everybody this evening?

457
00:22:21,917 --> 00:22:23,944
(cheering)

458
00:22:23,944 --> 00:22:26,457
So we're gonna do a couple
of things this evening.

459
00:22:26,457 --> 00:22:31,078
One is, you're gonna write,
what I call your freedom paper.

460
00:22:31,078 --> 00:22:33,267
Your freedom paper, is that message

461
00:22:33,267 --> 00:22:36,712
that you want to give to your daughter.

462
00:22:36,712 --> 00:22:41,535
That tells her, why you're
thankful that you're free.

463
00:22:41,535 --> 00:22:45,062
Or your freedom paper may be to somebody

464
00:22:45,062 --> 00:22:49,145
that you know that's
starting to do what you did.

465
00:22:50,696 --> 00:22:53,533
You all know who you wanna
write a freedom paper to.

466
00:22:53,533 --> 00:22:54,952
I might be that two year old kid

467
00:22:54,952 --> 00:22:57,627
that you told me about in that car.

468
00:22:57,627 --> 00:23:01,356
That he would never experience
a mother who's getting high.

469
00:23:01,356 --> 00:23:03,261
So if you complete it, you know,

470
00:23:03,261 --> 00:23:05,331
you've got nine months in recovery,

471
00:23:05,331 --> 00:23:07,134
you've got a job at X, Y and Z,

472
00:23:07,134 --> 00:23:09,698
you're enrolled in school,
you've got your kid back,

473
00:23:09,698 --> 00:23:11,120
whatever it is.

474
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,890
'Cause if you think about
what you were really like

475
00:23:14,890 --> 00:23:16,973
that first Monday we met,

476
00:23:17,991 --> 00:23:21,072
you've accomplished quite a bit.

477
00:23:21,072 --> 00:23:23,747
You're always gonna
have this to remind you,

478
00:23:23,747 --> 00:23:26,382
who the sun sets free, is free indeed.

479
00:23:26,382 --> 00:23:29,882
(thought-provoking music)

480
00:23:39,588 --> 00:23:41,582
- My name is Latacha, I'm 42 years old.

481
00:23:41,582 --> 00:23:44,217
I have 85 days clean today.

482
00:23:44,217 --> 00:23:48,655
Back in '85, I found
out I was HIV positive.

483
00:23:48,655 --> 00:23:50,843
Most of my problems, doing drugs

484
00:23:50,843 --> 00:23:52,952
because I didn't wanna
deal with this sickness

485
00:23:52,952 --> 00:23:55,100
of myself having HIV.

486
00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:56,924
So, I was on a binge with cocaine,

487
00:23:56,924 --> 00:24:01,830
I got tired of doing cocaine
and I started smoking crack.

488
00:24:01,830 --> 00:24:05,073
And I wound up going to
jail for like two months.

489
00:24:05,073 --> 00:24:07,059
That was in 2006.

490
00:24:07,059 --> 00:24:09,726
And I stayed clean for 10 years.

491
00:24:11,315 --> 00:24:14,112
And then I had lost my
brother and a few days later,

492
00:24:14,112 --> 00:24:16,220
I was out there smoking crack again.

493
00:24:16,220 --> 00:24:19,536
(sorrowful music)

494
00:24:19,536 --> 00:24:22,819
I cry all the time, because
I wishing he was here

495
00:24:22,819 --> 00:24:23,670
and I question God.

496
00:24:23,670 --> 00:24:25,778
Like, I don't know if
it's okay to question.

497
00:24:25,778 --> 00:24:27,724
Like, why did you take him away from me,

498
00:24:27,724 --> 00:24:29,753
he was all that I had.

499
00:24:29,753 --> 00:24:34,373
And I was just using
drugs to mask my feeling.

500
00:24:34,373 --> 00:24:36,805
- I'm Patricia, I am 39 years old

501
00:24:36,805 --> 00:24:39,805
and right now, I have 64 days clean.

502
00:24:43,169 --> 00:24:45,925
Pretty much directly out of
high school I went to the Navy.

503
00:24:45,925 --> 00:24:47,709
I stayed in for six years.

504
00:24:47,709 --> 00:24:49,776
I worked on the flight deck, fueling jets.

505
00:24:49,776 --> 00:24:53,708
It was awesome, it was
the most awesome job ever.

506
00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:56,626
I was 19 when I went in, turn 20 in Japan

507
00:24:56,626 --> 00:24:58,734
and the drinking age in Japan is 20.

508
00:24:58,734 --> 00:25:02,734
I was here, back in 2011,
and I should've stayed

509
00:25:03,719 --> 00:25:06,840
but I allowed myself to
be drawn off a little bit

510
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,245
and since then, it's
just being really rough.

511
00:25:10,245 --> 00:25:12,231
You know, I have three beautiful girls

512
00:25:12,231 --> 00:25:15,271
and they're older now, getting
ready to graduate school,

513
00:25:15,271 --> 00:25:16,609
they're all doing great things

514
00:25:16,609 --> 00:25:19,406
and I've lost that
relationship over the years.

515
00:25:19,406 --> 00:25:22,446
So, and they're the best things
that ever happened to me.

516
00:25:22,446 --> 00:25:25,363
So, I wanted that relationship back

517
00:25:26,783 --> 00:25:29,336
and to be able to be with them again,

518
00:25:29,336 --> 00:25:31,525
I have to be strong.

519
00:25:31,525 --> 00:25:32,538
- Hi, I'm Melissa.

520
00:25:32,538 --> 00:25:35,092
I have 109 days clean.

521
00:25:35,092 --> 00:25:37,119
I'm 37 years old.

522
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:38,902
I came to Mary Hall in 2010.

523
00:25:38,902 --> 00:25:41,172
Because after I left here,
I stopped going to church,

524
00:25:41,172 --> 00:25:43,604
I stopped going to meetings.

525
00:25:43,604 --> 00:25:45,306
You know, I'm a good
person, I'm gonna do this

526
00:25:45,306 --> 00:25:47,698
and I don't need anything else anymore.

527
00:25:47,698 --> 00:25:49,846
A lot of bad, unfortunate events happened,

528
00:25:49,846 --> 00:25:52,679
I had a condo, car, all that stuff

529
00:25:54,143 --> 00:25:57,345
and I had lost my job, managing Subway.

530
00:25:57,345 --> 00:26:00,345
(suspenseful music)

531
00:26:02,006 --> 00:26:05,627
My friend Casey, that's also here,

532
00:26:05,627 --> 00:26:08,210
we were on the street together,

533
00:26:09,771 --> 00:26:12,486
the drug use just became
more and more frequent.

534
00:26:12,486 --> 00:26:15,486
I couldn't do anything without it.

535
00:26:15,486 --> 00:26:17,715
And you know, we were
tired of bouncing around,

536
00:26:17,715 --> 00:26:20,593
I've known for a while
I've needed to come back.

537
00:26:20,593 --> 00:26:23,795
And then just one day,
Casey and I, well like,

538
00:26:23,795 --> 00:26:26,378
dude, we you know, we gotta do.

539
00:26:27,727 --> 00:26:30,144
It was a process to get here.

540
00:26:33,037 --> 00:26:35,955
So we walked across Cobb County.

541
00:26:35,955 --> 00:26:40,535
And went to the BHCC, the
Behavior Health Crisis Center

542
00:26:40,535 --> 00:26:43,454
for a Cobb in Douglasville.
And they were like, "Oh well,

543
00:26:43,454 --> 00:26:44,791
"you just need to come on another shift."

544
00:26:44,791 --> 00:26:47,345
I was like, "I don't know if
I'm going to make it back.

545
00:26:47,345 --> 00:26:50,512
"I can get high, two blocks from here.

546
00:26:52,047 --> 00:26:53,668
"Please let me in."

547
00:26:53,668 --> 00:26:54,965
And they wouldn't.

548
00:26:54,965 --> 00:26:57,715
(dejected music)

549
00:26:59,869 --> 00:27:02,619
I just slept there for the night.

550
00:27:07,084 --> 00:27:11,016
I came out in the morning, they let me in.

551
00:27:11,016 --> 00:27:15,637
I stayed 15 days, we were trying
to find a program to go to

552
00:27:15,637 --> 00:27:18,960
and Casey was like, "Can
you please call Mary Hall,

553
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:20,339
"I know you've being there before."

554
00:27:20,339 --> 00:27:21,838
I said, "Yeah, I can talk to them."

555
00:27:21,838 --> 00:27:24,432
I said, "Are you really ready?

556
00:27:24,432 --> 00:27:26,682
Are you sure you're ready?"

557
00:27:27,959 --> 00:27:29,702
She said, "Yeah."

558
00:27:29,702 --> 00:27:32,336
And I called, I talked to
them, I was here the next day.

559
00:27:32,336 --> 00:27:34,282
- Well, when somebody
says, what's the success

560
00:27:34,282 --> 00:27:35,944
of Mary Hall Freedom House, I say,

561
00:27:35,944 --> 00:27:38,903
"We all gotta measure
success differently."

562
00:27:38,903 --> 00:27:40,192
Because if a woman's being out there,

563
00:27:40,192 --> 00:27:42,584
getting high 30, 40 years and she come

564
00:27:42,584 --> 00:27:44,245
to Mary Hall Freedom House,

565
00:27:44,245 --> 00:27:46,556
and she's being clean now eight months,

566
00:27:46,556 --> 00:27:50,163
but she relapses and she comes back.

567
00:27:50,163 --> 00:27:53,482
I tell them, my job was
to ruin her next episode

568
00:27:53,482 --> 00:27:55,630
because now she's got the education

569
00:27:55,630 --> 00:27:59,400
and she's got the experience
of knowing recovery's possible.

570
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,426
And she comes back a month later and says,

571
00:28:01,426 --> 00:28:02,764
"Can I try again?"

572
00:28:02,764 --> 00:28:04,548
That's recovery.

573
00:28:04,548 --> 00:28:05,561
Again and again.

574
00:28:05,561 --> 00:28:08,479
Because it's possible, don't give up.

575
00:28:08,479 --> 00:28:12,857
Just because the person
goes back out there.

576
00:28:12,857 --> 00:28:15,856
Because no matter how many
times, if they're still alive,

577
00:28:15,856 --> 00:28:17,883
God's got a plan for them.

578
00:28:17,883 --> 00:28:19,707
You know, so don't you give up,

579
00:28:19,707 --> 00:28:21,936
just keep believing and keep praying.

580
00:28:21,936 --> 00:28:23,603
Recovery's possible.

581
00:28:25,463 --> 00:28:27,165
- Well, I was incarcerated
for like eight months

582
00:28:27,165 --> 00:28:28,503
and during that whole eight months,

583
00:28:28,503 --> 00:28:30,002
I didn't see my daughter at all.

584
00:28:30,002 --> 00:28:32,799
So, that was the longest I've
ever spent without my child.

585
00:28:32,799 --> 00:28:34,785
And I understand why she
didn't wanna bring her up there

586
00:28:34,785 --> 00:28:36,974
and I really didn't want her
to see me in there like that

587
00:28:36,974 --> 00:28:39,730
but when I got out of jail,

588
00:28:39,730 --> 00:28:40,703
like I was planning on picking up,

589
00:28:40,703 --> 00:28:41,676
you know, where I left off.

590
00:28:41,676 --> 00:28:43,095
And my mom was like,
"Don't worry about her,

591
00:28:43,095 --> 00:28:44,878
"you just worry about
that one right there.

592
00:28:44,878 --> 00:28:46,783
"I got her, I had her the whole time."

593
00:28:46,783 --> 00:28:49,377
So I'm sitting like, "How
you gonna try and stop me?"

594
00:28:49,377 --> 00:28:51,080
You know like that, it hurt my feelings,

595
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,066
like I wanted to cry.

596
00:28:53,066 --> 00:28:55,255
But I wanted to come in here to Mary Hall

597
00:28:55,255 --> 00:28:57,403
and of course I had to
basically take my child,

598
00:28:57,403 --> 00:28:58,497
like a thief in the night.

599
00:28:58,497 --> 00:28:59,876
And she would call my probation officer,

600
00:28:59,876 --> 00:29:01,294
she was trying to get
me to go back to jail,

601
00:29:01,294 --> 00:29:02,267
all of that stuff.

602
00:29:02,267 --> 00:29:03,199
I mean, I had every right

603
00:29:03,199 --> 00:29:06,482
to wanna cut my mother
out of my life for real.

604
00:29:06,482 --> 00:29:08,550
So, I mean, I just stopped talking to her

605
00:29:08,550 --> 00:29:12,157
and I realized that I know
my mom's heart, you know.

606
00:29:12,157 --> 00:29:14,981
So, with that being said though,

607
00:29:14,981 --> 00:29:18,168
these past six months, our
relationship is getting better.

608
00:29:18,168 --> 00:29:19,708
We talk on the phone every day.

609
00:29:19,708 --> 00:29:21,735
You know, she's always like,
"Send me pictures of the baby."

610
00:29:21,735 --> 00:29:24,248
So everything that I was hoping for,

611
00:29:24,248 --> 00:29:25,747
that would happen from the beginning

612
00:29:25,747 --> 00:29:27,166
of our relationship is happening.

613
00:29:27,166 --> 00:29:28,828
I could see everything.
- It just took some time.

614
00:29:28,828 --> 00:29:29,661
- Yeah.

615
00:29:29,661 --> 00:29:31,463
- Ladies, this circle is
full, it takes a minute,

616
00:29:31,463 --> 00:29:34,746
nobody walks 360 degrees
in under 30 seconds.

617
00:29:34,746 --> 00:29:36,002
- That's something I'm working on.

618
00:29:36,002 --> 00:29:37,218
Like you said.
- Right.

619
00:29:37,218 --> 00:29:38,272
- Like all the things we go through

620
00:29:38,272 --> 00:29:39,488
because the other things we allow them

621
00:29:39,488 --> 00:29:41,353
to do to us in our addiction.

622
00:29:41,353 --> 00:29:44,758
It is like, whenever I do
like speak up for myself,

623
00:29:44,758 --> 00:29:47,271
it's like the table get
turned back around on me.

624
00:29:47,271 --> 00:29:49,581
Then, it comes to me
having to explain myself.

625
00:29:49,581 --> 00:29:52,054
It's like, I can't even
explain exactly what I'm saying

626
00:29:52,054 --> 00:29:54,850
because they have thrown me out for week,

627
00:29:54,850 --> 00:29:56,553
what I actually wanted to say to them.

628
00:29:56,553 --> 00:29:58,620
Like, they here me, but it's like,

629
00:29:58,620 --> 00:29:59,512
"What you talking 'bout."

630
00:29:59,512 --> 00:30:00,566
You understand what I'm saying,

631
00:30:00,566 --> 00:30:02,673
but you just trying to--

632
00:30:02,673 --> 00:30:04,214
- Everybody who you wanted to talk

633
00:30:04,214 --> 00:30:05,956
and you want to set boundaries with,

634
00:30:05,956 --> 00:30:07,943
is not going to be receptive of that.

635
00:30:07,943 --> 00:30:09,361
And it will be certain people ladies,

636
00:30:09,361 --> 00:30:11,428
you going to have to let go of.

637
00:30:11,428 --> 00:30:13,334
And there's a certain level of respect

638
00:30:13,334 --> 00:30:17,346
that I demand because I am
a strong independent woman.

639
00:30:17,346 --> 00:30:18,643
Does that make sense?

640
00:30:18,643 --> 00:30:19,900
And that's what we're doing.

641
00:30:19,900 --> 00:30:22,737
That confidence is your
ability to ask for that.

642
00:30:22,737 --> 00:30:24,359
Hey, I get that I'm here

643
00:30:24,359 --> 00:30:25,696
and I'm going through these processes

644
00:30:25,696 --> 00:30:27,439
and I've made some poor choices,

645
00:30:27,439 --> 00:30:29,060
but this is what we're focused on

646
00:30:29,060 --> 00:30:30,439
and this is what my issue is,

647
00:30:30,439 --> 00:30:33,463
can we talk about solutions.

648
00:30:33,463 --> 00:30:36,732
Versus, you didn't hear
me, your not listening.

649
00:30:36,732 --> 00:30:38,556
Why do I have to keep repeating myself,

650
00:30:38,556 --> 00:30:39,975
you keep bringing up my issues.

651
00:30:39,975 --> 00:30:43,299
'Cause that conversation is unproductive.

652
00:30:43,299 --> 00:30:44,353
Does that make sense?

653
00:30:44,353 --> 00:30:46,379
And you laugh, 'cause that was
how that conversation went.

654
00:30:46,379 --> 00:30:48,163
(laughing)

655
00:30:48,163 --> 00:30:51,446
- Drug addiction, sometime
is the self medication

656
00:30:51,446 --> 00:30:52,500
of a mental illness.

657
00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:53,826
And when they come to treatment,

658
00:30:53,826 --> 00:30:55,528
they begin to take off the mask

659
00:30:55,528 --> 00:30:57,555
and the mental health kind of manifests

660
00:30:57,555 --> 00:30:59,622
and then you've gotta treat that as well.

661
00:30:59,622 --> 00:31:02,743
So, this is one of the
various counseling sessions

662
00:31:02,743 --> 00:31:07,121
that are lead by clinicians,
peer groups, carers, CPS's,

663
00:31:07,121 --> 00:31:08,506
they're behind closed doors,

664
00:31:08,506 --> 00:31:12,113
they're able to go deep and
wide and get it all out.

665
00:31:12,113 --> 00:31:13,451
It's one step at a time.

666
00:31:13,451 --> 00:31:14,667
Get them clean and sober

667
00:31:14,667 --> 00:31:17,220
and then deal with the ills of their life.

668
00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:20,382
And sometimes mental illness
is one of those illnesses.

669
00:31:20,382 --> 00:31:22,408
That's the goal, the
program gets to the root

670
00:31:22,408 --> 00:31:24,991
and to the heart of the matter.

671
00:31:25,854 --> 00:31:28,242
- My name is Jessica, I'm 29 years old

672
00:31:28,242 --> 00:31:31,444
and I have 68 days of recovery.

673
00:31:31,444 --> 00:31:34,565
I never fitted into school,
I didn't like school.

674
00:31:34,565 --> 00:31:37,565
So when things were hard
for me, I just acted out.

675
00:31:37,565 --> 00:31:39,794
I started hanging out with everyone else,

676
00:31:39,794 --> 00:31:43,037
going to sneak behind the
school, to smoke weed.

677
00:31:43,037 --> 00:31:47,901
I turned 17 years old, then
I started doing ecstasy.

678
00:31:47,901 --> 00:31:51,103
At the age of 23, I started
doing powder cocaine.

679
00:31:51,103 --> 00:31:54,710
So, this day, I had being
up for like two days.

680
00:31:54,710 --> 00:31:58,358
I was up drinking and using
and my kids were there

681
00:31:58,358 --> 00:32:00,263
and my niece was there.

682
00:32:00,263 --> 00:32:04,398
And my friend came got me,
but I didn't see her there.

683
00:32:04,398 --> 00:32:05,979
They was in the house
and I left them there

684
00:32:05,979 --> 00:32:08,146
with my 12 year old niece.

685
00:32:09,627 --> 00:32:11,876
Someone came and woke me up and like,

686
00:32:11,876 --> 00:32:13,013
"They keep blowing the phone up."

687
00:32:13,013 --> 00:32:14,878
So when I called, my Aunt was like,

688
00:32:14,878 --> 00:32:16,847
"Jessica, you need to go to your kids

689
00:32:16,847 --> 00:32:18,144
"at your Grandmother house,

690
00:32:18,144 --> 00:32:20,576
"'cause she called DFCS on you."

691
00:32:20,576 --> 00:32:24,589
Oh, from there, they put my
baby in temporary custody

692
00:32:24,589 --> 00:32:26,210
with my Aunt.

693
00:32:26,210 --> 00:32:29,043
(sorrowful music)

694
00:32:38,227 --> 00:32:39,977
- It's gonna be okay.

695
00:32:46,415 --> 00:32:48,522
- I felt ashamed.

696
00:32:48,522 --> 00:32:50,954
'Cause I knew that
everyone knew what I did,

697
00:32:50,954 --> 00:32:52,900
so I didn't wanna talk to anyone.

698
00:32:52,900 --> 00:32:56,913
I just didn't know how to
handle it, to be honest.

699
00:32:56,913 --> 00:32:59,547
I just miss, just like being
with them, holding them.

700
00:32:59,547 --> 00:33:02,668
It's a lot of things
that I don't miss at all.

701
00:33:02,668 --> 00:33:04,695
My Councilor's gonna help me go to court,

702
00:33:04,695 --> 00:33:07,776
so I can get my kids to
come here and stay with me.

703
00:33:07,776 --> 00:33:09,519
I'm not rushing them to be here.

704
00:33:09,519 --> 00:33:12,315
You see, that's what I
need first, my recovery.

705
00:33:12,315 --> 00:33:15,133
I don't think I'm really,
really ready right now,

706
00:33:15,133 --> 00:33:19,050
like for them to come
right now, I'm not ready.

707
00:33:22,665 --> 00:33:25,332
(hopeful music)

708
00:33:29,824 --> 00:33:32,491
- Hello.
- We'll call in a visit.

709
00:33:33,553 --> 00:33:35,701
This here Tara.
- Hey, how are you.

710
00:33:35,701 --> 00:33:37,868
- So, on 2015, this woman,

711
00:33:39,795 --> 00:33:43,686
who works for a company
called Mimms Enterprises,

712
00:33:43,686 --> 00:33:46,280
her boss walks in one
day, David Mimms says,

713
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,712
"The day we should get rid of
that Warner Street building,

714
00:33:48,712 --> 00:33:50,536
"who do we need to give it to?"

715
00:33:50,536 --> 00:33:52,765
And she said, "You need
to give it to Lucy."

716
00:33:52,765 --> 00:33:54,671
And he said, "I wanna
honor my mother with it,

717
00:33:54,671 --> 00:33:56,251
because of the work that you do, Lucy,

718
00:33:56,251 --> 00:33:58,359
I really wanna honor my mother."

719
00:33:58,359 --> 00:34:02,615
And so, I said, "I would
be honored to do that."

720
00:34:02,615 --> 00:34:04,601
You know, because he's mom actually died,

721
00:34:04,601 --> 00:34:07,434
the same year I started Mary Hall.

722
00:34:08,655 --> 00:34:10,479
And so, this is the Donna Center for Woman

723
00:34:10,479 --> 00:34:15,302
and it will be the first
24/7 center in Atlanta

724
00:34:15,302 --> 00:34:17,045
for woman and woman with children.

725
00:34:17,045 --> 00:34:19,558
And basically what that
means is, this is Saturday,

726
00:34:19,558 --> 00:34:21,828
we standing here Saturday
at 5 o'clock p.m.

727
00:34:21,828 --> 00:34:24,341
If a woman needed help
right now in Atlanta,

728
00:34:24,341 --> 00:34:25,174
where would she go?

729
00:34:25,174 --> 00:34:27,665
She'd go to the ER, go to jail,

730
00:34:27,665 --> 00:34:30,082
under a bridge, turn a trick,

731
00:34:31,069 --> 00:34:33,623
the list goes on and on
and on about her options

732
00:34:33,623 --> 00:34:35,670
but none of them is an open door

733
00:34:35,670 --> 00:34:38,143
to safety and a new way of life.

734
00:34:38,143 --> 00:34:40,291
She can come in here
at 11 o'clock tonight,

735
00:34:40,291 --> 00:34:42,885
tore up from the floor, as
long as she don't act up,

736
00:34:42,885 --> 00:34:44,304
we could still stay.

737
00:34:44,304 --> 00:34:45,137
(laughing)

738
00:34:45,137 --> 00:34:46,452
Do you understand what I'm saying?

739
00:34:46,452 --> 00:34:50,222
This whole thing has being
a true faith journey.

740
00:34:50,222 --> 00:34:51,803
It has blown my mind.

741
00:34:51,803 --> 00:34:55,167
'Cause this girl keeps doing the work

742
00:34:55,167 --> 00:34:56,869
and we sometimes don't
even have the money,

743
00:34:56,869 --> 00:34:58,693
but she will not stop the work.

744
00:34:58,693 --> 00:35:00,636
- Because I experience the fact
that when I did need a place

745
00:35:00,636 --> 00:35:03,189
to go, I had nothing here for me to go to

746
00:35:03,189 --> 00:35:06,594
and it was in the middle
and having a husband,

747
00:35:06,594 --> 00:35:08,783
instead that time and still
needed a place to you,

748
00:35:08,783 --> 00:35:09,756
you'd think that once you get married,

749
00:35:09,756 --> 00:35:11,823
you're secure and you won't need anybody,

750
00:35:11,823 --> 00:35:12,656
'cause you have him.

751
00:35:12,656 --> 00:35:15,714
And I didn't wanna tell my
mother, because I had a husband.

752
00:35:15,714 --> 00:35:17,781
So, I didn't want him to know.

753
00:35:17,781 --> 00:35:20,051
So, I was hiding it from her and I ran,

754
00:35:20,051 --> 00:35:21,761
I went to a little place around the corner

755
00:35:21,761 --> 00:35:23,650
that was for housing
for woman, I went them.

756
00:35:23,650 --> 00:35:27,136
They like, "I'm sorry,
we don't have any room."

757
00:35:27,136 --> 00:35:28,838
And you're like, "Where
am I gonna go now?"

758
00:35:28,838 --> 00:35:30,350
And I called one of my
friends and her mom said,

759
00:35:30,350 --> 00:35:31,513
"Well, you can come stay with us."

760
00:35:31,513 --> 00:35:32,689
So, we end up going to stay with her.

761
00:35:32,689 --> 00:35:34,553
But at that time, if I hadn't gotten

762
00:35:34,553 --> 00:35:36,377
that call from her momma, we
would've had nowhere to go.

763
00:35:36,377 --> 00:35:39,579
So, I don't want anybody
to experience that.

764
00:35:39,579 --> 00:35:42,417
Because it's not a good
thing, when you have two kids

765
00:35:42,417 --> 00:35:43,678
and you're out in the middle of the night

766
00:35:43,678 --> 00:35:45,051
and you have nowhere to go.

767
00:35:45,051 --> 00:35:47,200
So I don't want nobody
else to go through that.

768
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,348
So, for me, this is kind of personal.

769
00:35:49,348 --> 00:35:51,172
So like, when Lucy says,
"Well, I don't have any money."

770
00:35:51,172 --> 00:35:52,753
That's okay, will contain

771
00:35:52,753 --> 00:35:55,631
and do construction
until we get the money.

772
00:35:55,631 --> 00:35:57,779
Because I know this is what
God gave us this project.

773
00:35:57,779 --> 00:36:00,008
But when they tell us, we're
not gonna be in this community,

774
00:36:00,008 --> 00:36:02,967
we fought hard and God gave
us everything we needed.

775
00:36:02,967 --> 00:36:05,845
We got all the unanimous vote
from the city of Atlanta,

776
00:36:05,845 --> 00:36:07,426
when they said they
weren't gonna give it to us

777
00:36:07,426 --> 00:36:08,480
and we got it.

778
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,628
So, I just know that he ordained that.

779
00:36:10,628 --> 00:36:13,461
Everything else is gonna work out.

780
00:36:17,032 --> 00:36:19,615
(upbeat music)

781
00:36:26,749 --> 00:36:28,411
- [Narrator] Each year,
Mary Hope Freedom House,

782
00:36:28,411 --> 00:36:31,694
hosts a series of fundraisers.

783
00:36:31,694 --> 00:36:34,502
This year is especially important,

784
00:36:34,502 --> 00:36:36,927
with the Donna Center project pending.

785
00:36:36,927 --> 00:36:40,677
There's live music, good
food and fellowship.

786
00:36:46,453 --> 00:36:49,006
But the purpose for the
gathering comes into focus,

787
00:36:49,006 --> 00:36:50,871
when the women share their stories.

788
00:36:50,871 --> 00:36:53,871
(audience clapping)

789
00:36:59,707 --> 00:37:02,585
- My name is Stephanie, I'm 24

790
00:37:02,585 --> 00:37:04,752
and I have 320 days clean.

791
00:37:07,003 --> 00:37:10,002
I started smoking weed at 12.

792
00:37:10,002 --> 00:37:12,394
I was hanging out with people

793
00:37:12,394 --> 00:37:14,623
and then you know, I started doing pills.

794
00:37:14,623 --> 00:37:16,812
I was going to Hartwell, Georgia,

795
00:37:16,812 --> 00:37:20,865
going to buy some pills
and so when I got there,

796
00:37:20,865 --> 00:37:22,527
he's window was open.

797
00:37:22,527 --> 00:37:26,135
And I seen like some pill bottles.

798
00:37:26,135 --> 00:37:28,323
And I was like, "Hell this,

799
00:37:28,323 --> 00:37:32,156
"I'm about to go in there
and get some pills."

800
00:37:33,998 --> 00:37:37,200
When I got in the house, all
I heard was like a gunshot.

801
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:39,617
(gun firing)

802
00:37:40,848 --> 00:37:43,078
I went to run and when I looked down,

803
00:37:43,078 --> 00:37:46,563
my leg was just squirting blood.

804
00:37:46,563 --> 00:37:48,266
And after I got shot, you know,

805
00:37:48,266 --> 00:37:49,847
I was like still getting high.

806
00:37:49,847 --> 00:37:51,387
Like I was on my crutches, you know,

807
00:37:51,387 --> 00:37:54,184
going to get some pills, like hopping.

808
00:37:54,184 --> 00:37:57,183
I wanted to stop, but I couldn't.

809
00:37:57,183 --> 00:37:58,723
I didn't know how.

810
00:37:58,723 --> 00:38:02,939
I just remember just one of
my friends had passed away,

811
00:38:02,939 --> 00:38:07,022
from an overdose and it
just kind of hit me like,

812
00:38:08,046 --> 00:38:10,379
I don't wanna die like that.

813
00:38:11,654 --> 00:38:12,505
The girl that passed away,

814
00:38:12,505 --> 00:38:16,234
her mom actually was the
one that brought me up here.

815
00:38:16,234 --> 00:38:18,706
The trip up here, it was hard.

816
00:38:18,706 --> 00:38:19,539
It was.

817
00:38:24,016 --> 00:38:27,467
And I just remember her
saying, some of us have to die

818
00:38:27,467 --> 00:38:28,921
so that some of us can live.

819
00:38:28,921 --> 00:38:31,029
(sobbing)

820
00:38:31,029 --> 00:38:33,258
And, she was like,

821
00:38:33,258 --> 00:38:37,529
if she could help save
someone else's child's life

822
00:38:37,529 --> 00:38:38,779
that she would.

823
00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:43,209
She gave me money, she bought me food.

824
00:38:44,622 --> 00:38:49,289
And I don't know why she gave
me, her daughters obituary

825
00:38:50,297 --> 00:38:52,526
and all she was saying to me was,

826
00:38:52,526 --> 00:38:57,526
"I wanna, if this program
could've saved my daughters life."

827
00:39:02,943 --> 00:39:04,777
- Stephanie, how much
you checking in Stephanie

828
00:39:04,777 --> 00:39:06,398
and let us know how you're doing today.

829
00:39:06,398 --> 00:39:10,065
- I doing good, I'm
real tired from working.

830
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,596
And like, my most recent struggle,

831
00:39:13,596 --> 00:39:16,798
like last week I was just
having a lot of thoughts

832
00:39:16,798 --> 00:39:19,635
and stuff of like getting
high and I to break down

833
00:39:19,635 --> 00:39:23,012
and call Miss. Tara, 'cause
my sponsor didn't answer.

834
00:39:23,012 --> 00:39:24,309
- Was there some type of
words of encouragement

835
00:39:24,309 --> 00:39:25,444
that she gave you?

836
00:39:25,444 --> 00:39:27,714
- Yeah, just mainly like
encouraging me and telling me,

837
00:39:27,714 --> 00:39:29,862
it aint nothing but the devil.

838
00:39:29,862 --> 00:39:31,970
- So Miss. Tara is one of your
life accountability people?

839
00:39:31,970 --> 00:39:33,186
- One of them.

840
00:39:33,186 --> 00:39:34,686
- Okay, so when you leave Mary Hall,

841
00:39:34,686 --> 00:39:37,158
could you see yourself staying
in contact with Miss. Tara?

842
00:39:37,158 --> 00:39:40,158
- Oh yeah.
- Okay, good, thank you.

843
00:39:40,158 --> 00:39:43,031
(upbeat music)

844
00:39:43,031 --> 00:39:45,341
- I do now, wanna get a car.

845
00:39:45,341 --> 00:39:48,412
And that kind of seems like forever away.

846
00:39:48,412 --> 00:39:52,384
And then as far as school,
you know like the process

847
00:39:52,384 --> 00:39:54,086
of getting into school.

848
00:39:54,086 --> 00:39:56,669
'Cause I mean, I graduated high school,

849
00:39:56,669 --> 00:39:59,101
but I just didn't ever go any further.

850
00:39:59,101 --> 00:40:02,506
- What's amazing to me about Stephanie is,

851
00:40:02,506 --> 00:40:05,589
she is one of those women who for me,

852
00:40:06,924 --> 00:40:08,221
she got my phone number,

853
00:40:08,221 --> 00:40:11,423
and I still don't know how
she got my cell phone number.

854
00:40:11,423 --> 00:40:13,328
And I laughed, 'cause she was on this date

855
00:40:13,328 --> 00:40:15,841
and literally she texted
me the whole thing.

856
00:40:15,841 --> 00:40:17,990
From beginning to end.

857
00:40:17,990 --> 00:40:21,354
We're going here, we just
ate, we did this, we did that.

858
00:40:21,354 --> 00:40:23,421
She wants to tell somebody
she's getting ready

859
00:40:23,421 --> 00:40:25,812
to do this new phase of her recovery.

860
00:40:25,812 --> 00:40:27,393
What is next for you?

861
00:40:27,393 --> 00:40:29,623
- Well you know, I was looking to going

862
00:40:29,623 --> 00:40:31,122
to cosmetology school.

863
00:40:31,122 --> 00:40:32,744
And I see, when Alley put on Facebook,

864
00:40:32,744 --> 00:40:35,540
she started working here and
I'm gonna work here one day.

865
00:40:35,540 --> 00:40:36,838
- All right, I know
that's right baby girl,

866
00:40:36,838 --> 00:40:39,878
you got it, there you go, all right.

867
00:40:39,878 --> 00:40:42,593
I'm excited when you say,

868
00:40:42,593 --> 00:40:45,228
"As much as I wanna do cosmetology."

869
00:40:45,228 --> 00:40:48,065
I can feel my heart being
lead in another direction.

870
00:40:48,065 --> 00:40:49,646
That means you are turning your will

871
00:40:49,646 --> 00:40:51,267
and your life over to God.

872
00:40:51,267 --> 00:40:52,929
That's just makes me wanna cry,

873
00:40:52,929 --> 00:40:54,713
'cause that's what it's about.

874
00:40:54,713 --> 00:40:57,130
That's truly what's it about.

875
00:40:58,563 --> 00:41:00,225
I can remember going to a meeting

876
00:41:00,225 --> 00:41:01,684
and a number of things had happened

877
00:41:01,684 --> 00:41:05,616
and I raised my hand and
I take the room captive,

878
00:41:05,616 --> 00:41:07,724
'cause again, I can do drama,

879
00:41:07,724 --> 00:41:10,237
so everybody needs to
stop and listen to me,

880
00:41:10,237 --> 00:41:14,452
I lost my job, my boyfriend and I broke up

881
00:41:14,452 --> 00:41:16,317
and something else probably happened

882
00:41:16,317 --> 00:41:18,546
and I just thought, life was over.

883
00:41:18,546 --> 00:41:20,046
You know, poor me.

884
00:41:21,059 --> 00:41:22,802
And my sponsor Judith at the time

885
00:41:22,802 --> 00:41:24,788
was working at a treatment center.

886
00:41:24,788 --> 00:41:25,720
And she said, "Well, Lucy,

887
00:41:25,720 --> 00:41:27,828
why don't you come volunteer over here?"

888
00:41:27,828 --> 00:41:32,614
so I went over to St. Joseph
Rehab and started volunteering.

889
00:41:32,614 --> 00:41:36,546
And literally within 30 days
they offered me a job at night,

890
00:41:36,546 --> 00:41:39,100
working in recovery,
started giving it back.

891
00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:41,086
You know, once you got two years clean,

892
00:41:41,086 --> 00:41:43,234
I remember going to get me CAC,

893
00:41:43,234 --> 00:41:46,477
becoming a credential alcohol
counselor and going to school,

894
00:41:46,477 --> 00:41:50,227
to be able to work in
the field of addiction.

895
00:41:51,787 --> 00:41:54,016
Now I'm living life on life's terms.

896
00:41:54,016 --> 00:41:57,583
And I'm a productive member of society.

897
00:41:57,583 --> 00:41:59,366
Four, five years out on recovery now,

898
00:41:59,366 --> 00:42:02,285
I'm living and hanging out with my family.

899
00:42:02,285 --> 00:42:03,663
People wanna be around you,

900
00:42:03,663 --> 00:42:06,575
your family loves you even more now.

901
00:42:06,575 --> 00:42:10,142
And I remember coming to
Georgia and visiting my brother.

902
00:42:10,142 --> 00:42:12,809
(hip hop music)

903
00:42:15,897 --> 00:42:19,788
And I was like, "Whoa, Georgia,
the mall, black people."

904
00:42:19,788 --> 00:42:21,127
and Phinilla's like, "Wait a minute,

905
00:42:21,127 --> 00:42:23,460
"Georgia's got it going on."

906
00:42:25,100 --> 00:42:27,896
My brother lived in a nice
house out in Stone Mountain,

907
00:42:27,896 --> 00:42:29,680
it was like, "Wait a minute,

908
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:33,531
"Georgia looks like the place to be."

909
00:42:33,531 --> 00:42:35,841
And I remember writing
to my brother and saying,

910
00:42:35,841 --> 00:42:38,151
you know I wanna find a
job and come to Georgia.

911
00:42:38,151 --> 00:42:41,313
And he was like, "Well, come
on, you can come down here."

912
00:42:41,313 --> 00:42:43,380
So he started sending me the AJC,

913
00:42:43,380 --> 00:42:45,488
'cause back then there was no internet,

914
00:42:45,488 --> 00:42:47,312
you couldn't just pop online

915
00:42:47,312 --> 00:42:50,700
and put your resume out there
on social media, none of that.

916
00:42:50,700 --> 00:42:52,281
You used a newspaper.

917
00:42:52,281 --> 00:42:56,578
So I looked in the paper and
I found a job at the YWCA,

918
00:42:56,578 --> 00:42:59,658
which was a homeless shelter for women.

919
00:42:59,658 --> 00:43:03,347
And I put my resume in and I
interviewed and they hired me.

920
00:43:03,347 --> 00:43:05,252
And I went to work at a shelter,

921
00:43:05,252 --> 00:43:08,454
thinking that these
women were in recovery,

922
00:43:08,454 --> 00:43:10,237
like I had being doing up in New York.

923
00:43:10,237 --> 00:43:12,021
Only to get there and realize,

924
00:43:12,021 --> 00:43:14,007
shelters at that time were set up

925
00:43:14,007 --> 00:43:16,155
so that you only had 90 days,

926
00:43:16,155 --> 00:43:18,814
you had 90 days to come into this shelter,

927
00:43:18,814 --> 00:43:20,800
you or you and your children.

928
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:22,535
I was hired as the Resource Counselor.

929
00:43:22,535 --> 00:43:24,440
So I would go get the kids in school,

930
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:26,102
go get the mother on food stamps,

931
00:43:26,102 --> 00:43:28,269
go enable them to do what,

932
00:43:29,142 --> 00:43:32,141
never really introducing
them to recovering.

933
00:43:32,141 --> 00:43:34,695
I literally remember
one day, sitting there

934
00:43:34,695 --> 00:43:37,046
with a woman, who needed treatment

935
00:43:37,046 --> 00:43:38,667
and said she wanted treatment.

936
00:43:38,667 --> 00:43:42,234
And I was making call
after call after call

937
00:43:42,234 --> 00:43:44,706
and couldn't find any place for her.

938
00:43:44,706 --> 00:43:46,692
There was no place for her to go

939
00:43:46,692 --> 00:43:48,679
and get the help that she was seeking.

940
00:43:48,679 --> 00:43:50,138
And I said, "Somethings wrong with this,

941
00:43:50,138 --> 00:43:51,638
"where is there a treatment program,

942
00:43:51,638 --> 00:43:54,637
"here in Georgia for women?"

943
00:43:54,637 --> 00:43:57,134
And that's when it just
like, a light bulb went off,

944
00:43:57,134 --> 00:44:00,092
it's like, "Okay, we gotta
do something about this."

945
00:44:00,092 --> 00:44:02,849
and so, that's really were
Mary Hall Freedom House

946
00:44:02,849 --> 00:44:03,943
was birthed.

947
00:44:03,943 --> 00:44:06,862
When I first went and got an apartment

948
00:44:06,862 --> 00:44:08,402
to start Mary Hall Freedom House,

949
00:44:08,402 --> 00:44:10,405
I went to all of the treatment programs,

950
00:44:10,405 --> 00:44:14,499
Anchor Hospital, the CAB Addiction
Clinic, Charter Peachford

951
00:44:14,499 --> 00:44:17,174
and I remember June 1st 1996,

952
00:44:17,174 --> 00:44:18,755
Charter Peachford calling me up,

953
00:44:18,755 --> 00:44:20,268
the nurses name was Betty.

954
00:44:20,268 --> 00:44:22,457
I remember Betty as
though it was yesterday.

955
00:44:22,457 --> 00:44:24,038
Betty called me she said, "Hey Lucy,

956
00:44:24,038 --> 00:44:25,619
"do you got that program open yet?"

957
00:44:25,619 --> 00:44:26,632
I say, "Yes, ma'am."

958
00:44:26,632 --> 00:44:28,578
She's like, "Well, I've
got two ladies for you

959
00:44:28,578 --> 00:44:31,050
"that are ready for discharge.

960
00:44:31,050 --> 00:44:32,307
"Can you come get them?"

961
00:44:32,307 --> 00:44:33,523
I said, "Absolutely."

962
00:44:33,523 --> 00:44:35,780
And I remember going to
pick up Debbie and Donna.

963
00:44:35,780 --> 00:44:38,697
(excitement music)

964
00:44:40,198 --> 00:44:43,238
As I remember going over and
interviewing Debbie and Donna,

965
00:44:43,238 --> 00:44:46,602
like I knew what I was doing
and doing an intake assessment

966
00:44:46,602 --> 00:44:48,305
and asking them questions about, you know,

967
00:44:48,305 --> 00:44:49,804
your last day of use.

968
00:44:49,804 --> 00:44:52,480
And Donna was like, "About a week ago."

969
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:54,668
Debbie said, "Five days ago."

970
00:44:54,668 --> 00:44:56,654
I asked, "What do you do for work?"

971
00:44:56,654 --> 00:44:59,532
Donna said, "I don't have a
job, I live with my parents."

972
00:44:59,532 --> 00:45:01,721
And Debbie was like, "I'm a nurse."

973
00:45:01,721 --> 00:45:03,140
Any children?

974
00:45:03,140 --> 00:45:05,815
Debbie was like, "I have a son."

975
00:45:05,815 --> 00:45:07,112
Donna was a twin,

976
00:45:07,112 --> 00:45:09,585
I remember Donna being
this beautiful blonde,

977
00:45:09,585 --> 00:45:12,381
who was a twin, whose
family was very concerned,

978
00:45:12,381 --> 00:45:16,516
about her getting out of
treatment and not coming home.

979
00:45:16,516 --> 00:45:18,705
And Debbie, Debbie had a son,

980
00:45:18,705 --> 00:45:22,190
who she said that she was a nurse.

981
00:45:22,190 --> 00:45:24,866
And that she had being drinking.

982
00:45:24,866 --> 00:45:27,687
So both of them had being
in Charter Peachford,

983
00:45:27,687 --> 00:45:29,105
a couple of times.

984
00:45:29,105 --> 00:45:31,416
And that's why nurse Betty called.

985
00:45:31,416 --> 00:45:34,577
They knew that these
people needed longer term.

986
00:45:34,577 --> 00:45:36,685
'Cause detox at the time
was three, four days

987
00:45:36,685 --> 00:45:38,387
and then you went back to the community

988
00:45:38,387 --> 00:45:40,252
or the place where you came from,

989
00:45:40,252 --> 00:45:42,319
which really wasn't conducive

990
00:45:42,319 --> 00:45:44,427
to continue the journey of recovery.

991
00:45:44,427 --> 00:45:47,507
So that's why the concept
of Mary Hall caught on,

992
00:45:47,507 --> 00:45:48,845
like wildfire.

993
00:45:48,845 --> 00:45:51,115
There was now someplace for people to go,

994
00:45:51,115 --> 00:45:54,520
beyond the three day detox,
or the 28 day program.

995
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:56,100
There was now a halfway house,

996
00:45:56,100 --> 00:46:00,154
a long-term solution of
hope for these women.

997
00:46:00,154 --> 00:46:03,237
I remember, in 90 days from that day,

998
00:46:04,369 --> 00:46:07,126
we went from those two women, to 24 women.

999
00:46:07,126 --> 00:46:10,571
Today Mary Hall Freedom
House serves about 200 women

1000
00:46:10,571 --> 00:46:12,962
and 80 children on any given day,

1001
00:46:12,962 --> 00:46:14,827
in seven different types of programs.

1002
00:46:14,827 --> 00:46:17,380
Today, we just don't
serve and treat addiction,

1003
00:46:17,380 --> 00:46:22,163
we treat homelessness,
poverty and the ills of life.

1004
00:46:22,163 --> 00:46:24,555
Mental illness, domestic violence.

1005
00:46:24,555 --> 00:46:27,392
Whatever a sister's struggling with,

1006
00:46:27,392 --> 00:46:30,230
we have a spot for you at Mary Hall.

1007
00:46:30,230 --> 00:46:32,662
- [Narrator] As each woman
enters with different issues,

1008
00:46:32,662 --> 00:46:35,418
backgrounds and starting points,

1009
00:46:35,418 --> 00:46:38,579
the road to recovery is
an individual journey.

1010
00:46:38,579 --> 00:46:40,890
- So today, what we're gonna
do is develop our own ledger,

1011
00:46:40,890 --> 00:46:42,146
using our own money.

1012
00:46:42,146 --> 00:46:45,807
Before you to go get a gym
membership, and nails and wigs,

1013
00:46:45,807 --> 00:46:48,036
I need to make sure that
you can afford to live.

1014
00:46:48,036 --> 00:46:49,292
- [Narrator] So while
Patricia and Stephanie,

1015
00:46:49,292 --> 00:46:52,940
are in out-patient treatment
learning financial management,

1016
00:46:52,940 --> 00:46:54,805
Melissa is in the Work NOW Program,

1017
00:46:54,805 --> 00:46:56,588
training for a new career.

1018
00:46:56,588 --> 00:47:00,236
- I start my apprenticeship into the

1019
00:47:00,236 --> 00:47:03,316
Painters and Associate Trades in June.

1020
00:47:03,316 --> 00:47:05,099
- [Mom] Well, I'm glad
everything's happening,

1021
00:47:05,099 --> 00:47:06,721
in your way finally.

1022
00:47:06,721 --> 00:47:08,302
(chuckling)

1023
00:47:08,302 --> 00:47:10,802
- Took a minute, but I'm here.

1024
00:47:11,706 --> 00:47:15,152
Yeah, life's a whole lot better today.

1025
00:47:15,152 --> 00:47:17,735
- Yeah, sounds like it.
- Yeah.

1026
00:47:19,408 --> 00:47:21,597
- [Narrator] While this
training gives them hope,

1027
00:47:21,597 --> 00:47:24,474
it's only one part of recovery.

1028
00:47:24,474 --> 00:47:27,798
Over 46% of Americans have a family member

1029
00:47:27,798 --> 00:47:31,122
or close friend with a current
or past drug addiction.

1030
00:47:31,122 --> 00:47:33,716
So the work Lucy does with addicts,

1031
00:47:33,716 --> 00:47:36,026
benefits the entire village.

1032
00:47:36,026 --> 00:47:38,296
And the work she does to reunite mothers

1033
00:47:38,296 --> 00:47:42,795
and children will benefit
the village of our future.

1034
00:47:42,795 --> 00:47:45,552
- The young lady who
actually does my hair,

1035
00:47:45,552 --> 00:47:49,767
she came through here
with her mother in '96.

1036
00:47:49,767 --> 00:47:51,794
And she just had a baby, so.

1037
00:47:51,794 --> 00:47:53,739
And her and her husband
just bought a house.

1038
00:47:53,739 --> 00:47:55,888
So, that's the part that excites me.

1039
00:47:55,888 --> 00:47:58,847
Most people will say, Well, if
anything, you're getting old.

1040
00:47:58,847 --> 00:48:02,130
No, I'm seeing the
generational curses broken.

1041
00:48:02,130 --> 00:48:02,963
- Right.

1042
00:48:02,963 --> 00:48:04,481
- That excites me.

1043
00:48:04,481 --> 00:48:05,616
- [Narrator] Natasha is one of the women,

1044
00:48:05,616 --> 00:48:07,602
currently going through the process

1045
00:48:07,602 --> 00:48:09,426
of reuniting with her children.

1046
00:48:09,426 --> 00:48:11,574
She was recently awarded full custody

1047
00:48:11,574 --> 00:48:16,438
of her youngest daughter and
visitation with her eldest.

1048
00:48:16,438 --> 00:48:17,816
- Come on Tashi.

1049
00:48:17,816 --> 00:48:19,438
- No, you can open the whole thing.

1050
00:48:19,438 --> 00:48:20,654
- I wanna do it like this.

1051
00:48:20,654 --> 00:48:22,654
- You know what that is?

1052
00:48:23,896 --> 00:48:25,558
- We're making slime.

1053
00:48:25,558 --> 00:48:27,220
- Let me see something?
- No.

1054
00:48:27,220 --> 00:48:29,196
- You don't want her to see it?

1055
00:48:29,196 --> 00:48:31,071
My motivation are my kids,

1056
00:48:31,071 --> 00:48:32,570
very much so.

1057
00:48:32,570 --> 00:48:34,070
Yes, I love my kids dearly.

1058
00:48:34,070 --> 00:48:39,070
And I've did a whole lot of
harm to them from the drug use.

1059
00:48:39,096 --> 00:48:42,947
You know, it's being a burden
on me for a minute now,

1060
00:48:42,947 --> 00:48:46,271
but you know, if I had to
stay clean to deal with it.

1061
00:48:46,271 --> 00:48:48,135
(laughing)

1062
00:48:48,135 --> 00:48:49,270
Let momma help you.

1063
00:48:49,270 --> 00:48:52,067
This is Tashianna, she's two years old.

1064
00:48:52,067 --> 00:48:54,256
Say hi Tashianna.

1065
00:48:54,256 --> 00:48:55,089
Say hi.

1066
00:48:56,161 --> 00:48:59,465
This is Talia, she's 11 years old.

1067
00:48:59,465 --> 00:49:02,119
As at this point, we're
still working on it.

1068
00:49:02,119 --> 00:49:04,511
The worker came by
yesterday, she's spoke to me,

1069
00:49:04,511 --> 00:49:07,024
so we going back to court on July,

1070
00:49:07,024 --> 00:49:09,172
my DFCS case is gonna be closed down.

1071
00:49:09,172 --> 00:49:10,996
It's a wonderful feeling.

1072
00:49:10,996 --> 00:49:12,779
'Cause I love my kids, I'm so happy

1073
00:49:12,779 --> 00:49:16,103
to have them back in my
life, clean and sober.

1074
00:49:16,103 --> 00:49:20,157
We're able to sit down and
have good fun family time.

1075
00:49:20,157 --> 00:49:21,981
It was a journey, I just had to come here

1076
00:49:21,981 --> 00:49:23,886
and do what I needed to do, in order

1077
00:49:23,886 --> 00:49:25,791
to be a good mother for them,

1078
00:49:25,791 --> 00:49:28,385
'cause I wasn't gonna be able to,

1079
00:49:28,385 --> 00:49:29,885
I was gonna loose custody of my kids,

1080
00:49:29,885 --> 00:49:31,344
if I wouldn't have came.

1081
00:49:31,344 --> 00:49:34,505
- Gone make a ball.
- Yeah, these my babies.

1082
00:49:34,505 --> 00:49:38,315
Now working on, my goal
is to save me some money

1083
00:49:38,315 --> 00:49:40,829
and in two years, maybe
to buy my own house.

1084
00:49:40,829 --> 00:49:42,233
So I can let the next lady,

1085
00:49:42,233 --> 00:49:46,813
who lives with mothers and
children have this apartment.

1086
00:49:46,813 --> 00:49:49,063
(laughing)

1087
00:49:51,069 --> 00:49:54,069
- [Narrator] The next mother
may very well be Jessica.

1088
00:49:54,069 --> 00:49:56,095
Who is anxious to get her kids back.

1089
00:49:56,095 --> 00:50:00,554
(apprehensive music)
- So how long has it being,

1090
00:50:00,554 --> 00:50:02,297
since you being away from your babies?

1091
00:50:02,297 --> 00:50:05,742
- Well, they be in custody for two years.

1092
00:50:05,742 --> 00:50:06,918
How long did the process take,

1093
00:50:06,918 --> 00:50:08,580
I mean was your baby big in life,

1094
00:50:08,580 --> 00:50:10,404
what you had to do to do through.

1095
00:50:10,404 --> 00:50:12,836
- The process is several months.

1096
00:50:12,836 --> 00:50:14,984
You start with some transport

1097
00:50:14,984 --> 00:50:16,524
and then it gets uncivilized

1098
00:50:16,524 --> 00:50:18,875
and then transition to be with you.

1099
00:50:18,875 --> 00:50:20,578
So, just trust the process.

1100
00:50:20,578 --> 00:50:21,411
- Okay.

1101
00:50:21,411 --> 00:50:23,212
- You'll get your kids
back, just keep coming,

1102
00:50:23,212 --> 00:50:25,685
showing up and showing out,
you'll get your kids back.

1103
00:50:25,685 --> 00:50:29,073
- Yeah I'm nervous 'cause I
go to court on the 11th so.

1104
00:50:29,073 --> 00:50:30,168
I'm just hoping that they,

1105
00:50:30,168 --> 00:50:33,045
at least I get unsupervised visits,

1106
00:50:33,045 --> 00:50:37,562
then it progressed until
me get my baby back.

1107
00:50:37,562 --> 00:50:38,639
- Just be patient.

1108
00:50:38,639 --> 00:50:39,693
- All right, I am.

1109
00:50:39,693 --> 00:50:41,639
- 'Cause it seem like it takes forever,

1110
00:50:41,639 --> 00:50:43,868
but really, it doesn't.

1111
00:50:43,868 --> 00:50:46,786
Just because we wanna
be with our kids 24/7

1112
00:50:46,786 --> 00:50:48,953
but you be patient.
- Yeah.

1113
00:50:51,465 --> 00:50:55,390
- So even though we hold
graduation every June,

1114
00:50:55,390 --> 00:50:58,633
it takes a lot to be successful
and to cross that stage.

1115
00:50:58,633 --> 00:51:00,498
And for every person it's individual,

1116
00:51:00,498 --> 00:51:02,484
it's their plan of how they're going

1117
00:51:02,484 --> 00:51:04,754
to improve the quality of their life.

1118
00:51:04,754 --> 00:51:07,429
For Jessica, she's still
searching for what that is.

1119
00:51:07,429 --> 00:51:10,347
For Shyanna, things are
becoming more clear.

1120
00:51:10,347 --> 00:51:12,941
(thoughtful music)

1121
00:51:12,941 --> 00:51:15,373
- Well the mothers with
children who always be like,

1122
00:51:15,373 --> 00:51:18,130
"I wanna go back to school,
I wanna go back to school."

1123
00:51:18,130 --> 00:51:20,683
Y'all, we can do this,

1124
00:51:20,683 --> 00:51:24,210
it's just a matter of actually doing it.

1125
00:51:24,210 --> 00:51:26,155
Like you've got to put footwork in.

1126
00:51:26,155 --> 00:51:28,182
Like I said, I've wanted
to go back to school

1127
00:51:28,182 --> 00:51:30,249
and I'm doing it now, you know.

1128
00:51:30,249 --> 00:51:33,816
Like, I'm seeing these short-term goals

1129
00:51:33,816 --> 00:51:36,978
that I had planned for myself
and I'm finally doing it.

1130
00:51:36,978 --> 00:51:38,032
Like I'm checking them off my checklist.

1131
00:51:38,032 --> 00:51:39,977
Like, um, check, you know.

1132
00:51:39,977 --> 00:51:42,044
So, I'm happy about that.

1133
00:51:42,044 --> 00:51:45,165
Before coming here, I wouldn't
have being able to see that.

1134
00:51:45,165 --> 00:51:48,043
Like I always kept saying, "Oh,
I wanna go back to school."

1135
00:51:48,043 --> 00:51:50,678
it was just a pipe-dream.

1136
00:51:50,678 --> 00:51:54,285
I tried really hard to do everything

1137
00:51:54,285 --> 00:51:57,771
that I'm doing right now
and it wasn't just talk,

1138
00:51:57,771 --> 00:51:58,906
it was action.

1139
00:51:58,906 --> 00:52:00,001
I feel really good.

1140
00:52:00,001 --> 00:52:01,054
(laughing)

1141
00:52:01,054 --> 00:52:02,797
I feel really good about that.

1142
00:52:02,797 --> 00:52:03,630
So, yeah.

1143
00:52:04,865 --> 00:52:07,698
(uplifting music)

1144
00:52:10,553 --> 00:52:15,011
- It has become several
years before you hit a bottom

1145
00:52:15,011 --> 00:52:18,092
and therefore you need
a long-term solution.

1146
00:52:18,092 --> 00:52:20,727
And that's really what Mary
Hall Freedom House became.

1147
00:52:20,727 --> 00:52:22,632
Addiction is not a common cold.

1148
00:52:22,632 --> 00:52:25,510
It's not even the hives,
that will go away.

1149
00:52:25,510 --> 00:52:28,427
It is like a cancer, like diabetes,

1150
00:52:29,766 --> 00:52:32,349
it has to be treated over time.

1151
00:52:33,657 --> 00:52:34,913
- [Narrator] I started to wonder,

1152
00:52:34,913 --> 00:52:37,264
where are the ribbons,
parades and T-shirts

1153
00:52:37,264 --> 00:52:41,520
that celebrate recovery, like
we see for cancer or AIDS.

1154
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:42,979
In our search for answers,

1155
00:52:42,979 --> 00:52:46,830
Lucy paid a visit to her
friend, Neil Campbell,

1156
00:52:46,830 --> 00:52:49,830
Executive Director of the Georgia Council

1157
00:52:49,830 --> 00:52:51,413
on Substance Abuse.

1158
00:52:52,383 --> 00:52:54,167
- I'm ready.
- Lucy.

1159
00:52:54,167 --> 00:52:55,383
(laughing)

1160
00:52:55,383 --> 00:52:57,612
Hi, welcome.
- Love you bunch.

1161
00:52:57,612 --> 00:52:58,445
- It's always good to see you.

1162
00:52:58,445 --> 00:52:59,395
I love you too.
- Always,

1163
00:52:59,395 --> 00:53:00,228
always good to see you.

1164
00:53:00,228 --> 00:53:02,679
I mean, you and I always talk
about living it out loud.

1165
00:53:02,679 --> 00:53:05,313
And I think God, we're not
anonymous people anymore,

1166
00:53:05,313 --> 00:53:08,656
we've got to make sure
recovery is lived out loud.

1167
00:53:08,656 --> 00:53:09,953
But I want you to tell me a little bit,

1168
00:53:09,953 --> 00:53:13,155
about your thoughts in terms
of what's the solution today.

1169
00:53:13,155 --> 00:53:14,979
- Oh goodness, I think a huge part

1170
00:53:14,979 --> 00:53:16,722
of it is given voice to recovery.

1171
00:53:16,722 --> 00:53:18,262
I think we've being anonymous too long.

1172
00:53:18,262 --> 00:53:19,154
- Yeah.

1173
00:53:19,154 --> 00:53:21,626
- There's 23, 24 million
people in this country

1174
00:53:21,626 --> 00:53:24,545
that are in recovery and
we don't ever hear that.

1175
00:53:24,545 --> 00:53:25,680
All we see is the problem.

1176
00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:27,625
So I think, you know, one of the things

1177
00:53:27,625 --> 00:53:29,328
that we try to do or change,

1178
00:53:29,328 --> 00:53:31,192
in the social norms around addiction.

1179
00:53:31,192 --> 00:53:32,246
So when people think of addiction,

1180
00:53:32,246 --> 00:53:34,637
they don't think of someone
living under a bridge,

1181
00:53:34,637 --> 00:53:35,732
they think of us.

1182
00:53:35,732 --> 00:53:37,677
- You and I got 30 years of recovery.

1183
00:53:37,677 --> 00:53:40,018
(chuckling)

1184
00:53:40,018 --> 00:53:42,164
I wanna tell the world--
- 16 years of recovery.

1185
00:53:42,164 --> 00:53:43,258
- Yeah.
- 'Cause they knew us,

1186
00:53:43,258 --> 00:53:44,091
when we were out there,

1187
00:53:44,091 --> 00:53:45,123
why shouldn't they know us in recovery,

1188
00:53:45,123 --> 00:53:46,258
we wanna hide that up.

1189
00:53:46,258 --> 00:53:49,217
- Yeah, so we've got to
let other people know,

1190
00:53:49,217 --> 00:53:52,460
especially these 16, 'cause
I started using in my teens.

1191
00:53:52,460 --> 00:53:53,293
- Yeah, me too.

1192
00:53:53,293 --> 00:53:56,351
- Because nobody ever
told me anything about it.

1193
00:53:56,351 --> 00:53:57,405
- Yeah, we go into high schools

1194
00:53:57,405 --> 00:53:58,702
and we have conversations with them

1195
00:53:58,702 --> 00:54:00,647
and the only commitment we ask from them

1196
00:54:00,647 --> 00:54:02,958
is that they talk to us honestly about it.

1197
00:54:02,958 --> 00:54:04,174
- Exactly.
- About their use

1198
00:54:04,174 --> 00:54:05,106
and why they're using.

1199
00:54:05,106 --> 00:54:07,619
And so we hear things
like, "My depression,

1200
00:54:07,619 --> 00:54:10,700
"my anxiety, or I can't
go into a social situation

1201
00:54:10,700 --> 00:54:13,740
"without taking a little
bump, 'cause I'm so insecure."

1202
00:54:13,740 --> 00:54:14,573
- Absolutely.
- I mean,

1203
00:54:14,573 --> 00:54:15,406
kids are using for a reason.

1204
00:54:15,406 --> 00:54:17,347
And like you said, they start younger,

1205
00:54:17,347 --> 00:54:20,954
the availability, if we look
at how available opiates are,

1206
00:54:20,954 --> 00:54:22,008
these days.

1207
00:54:22,008 --> 00:54:23,265
Washington Post has an article,

1208
00:54:23,265 --> 00:54:24,521
where you can actually see,

1209
00:54:24,521 --> 00:54:26,629
where the pills have being distributed,

1210
00:54:26,629 --> 00:54:27,642
in the country.
- That's scary.

1211
00:54:27,642 --> 00:54:30,115
- 76 Billion is a six year period.

1212
00:54:30,115 --> 00:54:32,263
And we sit around here

1213
00:54:32,263 --> 00:54:34,493
and wonder why we're
not seeing a more sense

1214
00:54:34,493 --> 00:54:36,276
of urgency in this State.

1215
00:54:36,276 --> 00:54:38,680
Between three and four
people per day are dying of

1216
00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:40,666
opium overdose.

1217
00:54:40,666 --> 00:54:43,342
If it was any other illness--
- Right.

1218
00:54:43,342 --> 00:54:44,760
- If it was Ebola.
- Right.

1219
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:46,852
- If it was West Nile,

1220
00:54:46,852 --> 00:54:48,805
if we had three or four
people die in a day,

1221
00:54:48,805 --> 00:54:50,589
everybody would be laser-focused.

1222
00:54:50,589 --> 00:54:51,422
- Absolutely.

1223
00:54:51,422 --> 00:54:52,859
- Because it's us, because it's people,

1224
00:54:52,859 --> 00:54:55,858
who were using substances and
may have a mental illness,

1225
00:54:55,858 --> 00:54:57,236
we don't talk about it as much.

1226
00:54:57,236 --> 00:54:59,101
Sometimes I just wanna
grab some policy-makers

1227
00:54:59,101 --> 00:55:00,803
by the lapel and say,
"What are you doing?"

1228
00:55:00,803 --> 00:55:01,636
- Right.

1229
00:55:01,636 --> 00:55:02,546
- You know, we know we can
do this, we can fight this,

1230
00:55:02,546 --> 00:55:04,411
we just gotta fight it harder.

1231
00:55:04,411 --> 00:55:05,992
- And what scares me a lot of times,

1232
00:55:05,992 --> 00:55:07,613
is it's getting younger.

1233
00:55:07,613 --> 00:55:10,248
Meaning these young people are given,

1234
00:55:10,248 --> 00:55:12,311
prescription drugs to treat something

1235
00:55:12,311 --> 00:55:13,608
and then they get hooked on it

1236
00:55:13,608 --> 00:55:15,594
and so now all of a
sudden I have this pill

1237
00:55:15,594 --> 00:55:18,472
that's making me feel better
and not deal with my anxiety

1238
00:55:18,472 --> 00:55:21,107
or not deal with my
bipolar, and not deal with,

1239
00:55:21,107 --> 00:55:23,214
and it escalates and I
want more, and I want more

1240
00:55:23,214 --> 00:55:25,484
and I want more and the next
thing you know, they're dead.

1241
00:55:25,484 --> 00:55:27,470
And nobody sees that.

1242
00:55:27,470 --> 00:55:28,686
We can talk about both,

1243
00:55:28,686 --> 00:55:30,916
we can't keep talking
about addiction over here

1244
00:55:30,916 --> 00:55:32,456
and mental illness over here.

1245
00:55:32,456 --> 00:55:34,848
We've got to talk about it all in one.

1246
00:55:34,848 --> 00:55:36,185
- We have this expectation of people,

1247
00:55:36,185 --> 00:55:39,590
who are coming back from
a substance use disorder,

1248
00:55:39,590 --> 00:55:42,346
from a mental illness that
suddenly it's gonna be okay.

1249
00:55:42,346 --> 00:55:45,427
Well, so many times
they end up incarcerated

1250
00:55:45,427 --> 00:55:48,629
or we end up in
institutionalized in some of way

1251
00:55:48,629 --> 00:55:49,804
and then we come back to our communities

1252
00:55:49,804 --> 00:55:51,020
and everybody's afraid of us.

1253
00:55:51,020 --> 00:55:54,260
Those communities have a role to make,

1254
00:55:54,260 --> 00:55:56,483
to be more recovery-friendly.

1255
00:55:56,483 --> 00:55:58,753
For every dollar you spend on treatment

1256
00:55:58,753 --> 00:55:59,767
and recovery services,

1257
00:55:59,767 --> 00:56:02,523
you save $7 in criminal justice costs.

1258
00:56:02,523 --> 00:56:04,752
That's amazing, that's
a return on investment.

1259
00:56:04,752 --> 00:56:05,585
- Absolutely.

1260
00:56:05,585 --> 00:56:06,418
- We need to be doing more of that.

1261
00:56:06,418 --> 00:56:08,035
If I come out of prison
and I have a felony

1262
00:56:08,035 --> 00:56:10,508
and I can't find a job, you know,

1263
00:56:10,508 --> 00:56:12,251
what am I supposed to do.
- How am I gonna survive.

1264
00:56:12,251 --> 00:56:13,670
- Or if I have a drug felony,

1265
00:56:13,670 --> 00:56:15,413
I can't live in certain situation,

1266
00:56:15,413 --> 00:56:17,115
I'm banished from certain places.

1267
00:56:17,115 --> 00:56:19,304
It's like, if the community
and the place where you grew up

1268
00:56:19,304 --> 00:56:20,763
and the place where your family lives,

1269
00:56:20,763 --> 00:56:23,722
isn't gonna be about redemption, who is?

1270
00:56:23,722 --> 00:56:25,424
- [Narrator] Since the last 1800s,

1271
00:56:25,424 --> 00:56:26,640
there have being many theories

1272
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:29,414
and scientific experiments searching

1273
00:56:29,414 --> 00:56:31,042
for a way to cure addiction.

1274
00:56:31,042 --> 00:56:33,625
(upbeat music)

1275
00:56:34,568 --> 00:56:36,717
Experiments done in the 1930s,

1276
00:56:36,717 --> 00:56:39,671
were scientists placed
rats into isolated cages

1277
00:56:39,671 --> 00:56:43,481
to see if they would choose
clean water, or drug water.

1278
00:56:43,481 --> 00:56:46,116
Later, they did research
on addictive Vets,

1279
00:56:46,116 --> 00:56:47,294
returning from war.

1280
00:56:47,294 --> 00:56:50,372
Would they continue to use or not.

1281
00:56:50,372 --> 00:56:53,331
And then there were new
experiments in the 1970s.

1282
00:56:53,331 --> 00:56:56,614
This time the rats were placed
in large relaxing enclosures,

1283
00:56:56,614 --> 00:56:59,249
basically rat-paradise.

1284
00:56:59,249 --> 00:57:02,816
In this environment, they
mostly chose the clean water.

1285
00:57:02,816 --> 00:57:05,994
Although some of these
controversial experiments,

1286
00:57:05,994 --> 00:57:08,506
gave insight to the addictive mind,

1287
00:57:08,506 --> 00:57:10,923
they was still no magic-pill.

1288
00:57:11,790 --> 00:57:14,060
Eventually, Federal Drug Policy,

1289
00:57:14,060 --> 00:57:16,492
became concentrated on narcotics control,

1290
00:57:16,492 --> 00:57:18,492
through law enforcement.

1291
00:57:20,261 --> 00:57:24,819
And prevention, or treatment
were de-emphasized.

1292
00:57:24,819 --> 00:57:28,507
- You shouldn't have to
get arrested to get well.

1293
00:57:28,507 --> 00:57:30,615
So one of our major missions is to show

1294
00:57:30,615 --> 00:57:34,709
that regardless of socio-economic status,

1295
00:57:34,709 --> 00:57:37,627
regardless of race, gender
any of those factors,

1296
00:57:37,627 --> 00:57:38,559
don't make a difference.

1297
00:57:38,559 --> 00:57:41,478
Everybody is vulnerable to addiction.

1298
00:57:41,478 --> 00:57:44,234
You know, this country makes up about 6%

1299
00:57:44,234 --> 00:57:47,801
of the worlds population
and yet we use about 75%

1300
00:57:47,801 --> 00:57:50,395
of the legal prescription drugs.

1301
00:57:50,395 --> 00:57:51,854
That's crazy.

1302
00:57:51,854 --> 00:57:55,300
Just having sickness, we think
you can cure it with a pill.

1303
00:57:55,300 --> 00:57:58,948
We have to stop being ashamed of ourselves

1304
00:57:58,948 --> 00:58:00,407
and ashamed of the road we've taken

1305
00:58:00,407 --> 00:58:02,960
but be proud of the fact
that we've gotten better.

1306
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:05,433
Because that shows that other
people can get better too.

1307
00:58:05,433 --> 00:58:07,581
We believe that through
telling our stories,

1308
00:58:07,581 --> 00:58:10,297
other people know that
recovery is possible.

1309
00:58:10,297 --> 00:58:13,053
- [Narrator] I'm no scientist,
nor an agent of the law,

1310
00:58:13,053 --> 00:58:15,323
but I do believe what
everyone being trying

1311
00:58:15,323 --> 00:58:19,222
to figure out exists in
the village Lucy built.

1312
00:58:19,222 --> 00:58:22,722
(thought-provoking music)

1313
00:58:25,335 --> 00:58:28,821
A village with pathways to
recovery, instead of punishment.

1314
00:58:28,821 --> 00:58:31,577
A village where families
go hard on the problem

1315
00:58:31,577 --> 00:58:33,401
and not the people they love.

1316
00:58:33,401 --> 00:58:35,631
A village where addicts and their allies,

1317
00:58:35,631 --> 00:58:37,464
work together to heal.

1318
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:40,733
A Hope Village.

1319
00:58:44,467 --> 00:58:47,548
Where mothers are reunited
with their children.

1320
00:58:47,548 --> 00:58:50,215
(hip hop music)

1321
00:58:55,289 --> 00:58:58,411
- This is my first
born, her names Arianna.

1322
00:58:58,411 --> 00:59:00,113
She's 11 years old.

1323
00:59:00,113 --> 00:59:02,748
And she's going to to the 6th grade.

1324
00:59:02,748 --> 00:59:05,463
This is Taylor and Tyler.

1325
00:59:05,463 --> 00:59:07,976
Taylor is the first born, they're twins.

1326
00:59:07,976 --> 00:59:11,893
And Taylor is four years
old and Tyler is four.

1327
00:59:14,178 --> 00:59:16,095
- You playing, come on.

1328
00:59:17,177 --> 00:59:21,507
- Come up on the swing.
- No, it's baby one.

1329
00:59:21,507 --> 00:59:23,174
- It's a baby swing.

1330
00:59:24,425 --> 00:59:26,758
- Not too high, not too hig.

1331
00:59:28,438 --> 00:59:32,370
- Well Arianna, I loves
seeing you every week.

1332
00:59:32,370 --> 00:59:34,559
I can't wait til we get back together

1333
00:59:34,559 --> 00:59:36,005
and just be a family.

1334
00:59:36,005 --> 00:59:38,235
It's just, I'll be there for
you, like with everything,

1335
00:59:38,235 --> 00:59:39,937
I'll help you with your homework,

1336
00:59:39,937 --> 00:59:42,855
make sure you get up on time for school.

1337
00:59:42,855 --> 00:59:44,436
You know, and everything.

1338
00:59:44,436 --> 00:59:45,901
'Cause being there for y'all,

1339
00:59:45,901 --> 00:59:48,495
I can't wait for your graduation.

1340
00:59:48,495 --> 00:59:51,414
I'm doing your hair today,
you're gonna look pretty.

1341
00:59:51,414 --> 00:59:53,846
- You going to the graduation?
- Hi, you graduating soon?

1342
00:59:53,846 --> 00:59:55,710
This my problem child.
- No.

1343
00:59:55,710 --> 00:59:57,453
- Yes, you is.

1344
00:59:57,453 --> 01:00:00,782
You give me a hard time, all the time.

1345
01:00:00,782 --> 01:00:02,809
I love seeing them in time,
like spending time with them,

1346
01:00:02,809 --> 01:00:05,281
at the time I actually lost
like actually being a mother

1347
01:00:05,281 --> 01:00:07,470
and just being active in their life.

1348
01:00:07,470 --> 01:00:10,145
To be able to take them to places

1349
01:00:10,145 --> 01:00:12,807
and do things that I being
wanting to do with them.

1350
01:00:12,807 --> 01:00:15,536
So, all of that is coming together now.

1351
01:00:15,536 --> 01:00:17,685
I'm just waiting to get my place

1352
01:00:17,685 --> 01:00:19,103
and just have them there with me

1353
01:00:19,103 --> 01:00:21,008
and just be a good mother to them,

1354
01:00:21,008 --> 01:00:24,008
like I should have in the beginning.

1355
01:00:24,981 --> 01:00:26,156
(laughing)

1356
01:00:26,156 --> 01:00:27,940
- [Narrator] As Jessica
finally gets to visit,

1357
01:00:27,940 --> 01:00:30,980
she's being waiting for with her kids,

1358
01:00:30,980 --> 01:00:33,719
the rest of the women at Mary
Hall Freedom House prepare

1359
01:00:33,719 --> 01:00:36,759
to celebrate their upcoming graduation.

1360
01:00:36,759 --> 01:00:39,110
- When I first start working here,

1361
01:00:39,110 --> 01:00:42,377
I seen a couple of ladies that come in

1362
01:00:42,377 --> 01:00:43,634
and I'm like, scratching my head,

1363
01:00:43,634 --> 01:00:45,174
going like, "Wow, why she here,

1364
01:00:45,174 --> 01:00:47,201
"there isn't nothing left to do."

1365
01:00:47,201 --> 01:00:49,511
'Cause of my understanding,
I used to think

1366
01:00:49,511 --> 01:00:52,632
that there was a living and
life God in others intend

1367
01:00:52,632 --> 01:00:53,882
for us to fall.

1368
01:00:55,348 --> 01:00:57,010
And when you fall down,
you're just through,

1369
01:00:57,010 --> 01:00:58,550
you're just finished.

1370
01:00:58,550 --> 01:01:00,415
But I seen people came in here

1371
01:01:00,415 --> 01:01:03,779
that went beyond that level
that I used to believe.

1372
01:01:03,779 --> 01:01:08,156
And lasted six months, I
mean you look at them again,

1373
01:01:08,156 --> 01:01:10,386
they look like movie stars.

1374
01:01:10,386 --> 01:01:14,723
They actually get their kids
back, get their husbands back,

1375
01:01:14,723 --> 01:01:18,817
they get hope, become
first-time homeowners.

1376
01:01:18,817 --> 01:01:21,451
Become business owners
and I'm like, "Wow."

1377
01:01:21,451 --> 01:01:23,559
And if I seen this, I was like,

1378
01:01:23,559 --> 01:01:25,910
"There's no place for a person who fall

1379
01:01:25,910 --> 01:01:27,410
"that God cannot reach."

1380
01:01:27,410 --> 01:01:29,993
(upbeat music)

1381
01:01:32,841 --> 01:01:34,584
- We're excited to be out here today,

1382
01:01:34,584 --> 01:01:36,976
simply because it is the
time of year where we get

1383
01:01:36,976 --> 01:01:39,975
to celebrate the success
of transformation of life.

1384
01:01:39,975 --> 01:01:42,529
These women have turned their lives around

1385
01:01:42,529 --> 01:01:45,771
and we have a cook-out,
then we do graduation

1386
01:01:45,771 --> 01:01:50,604
and we just ask them and their
families to come celebrate.

1387
01:01:57,323 --> 01:01:58,539
You know, the most important thing

1388
01:01:58,539 --> 01:02:02,633
is learning how to have life
sober, how to do life sober.

1389
01:02:02,633 --> 01:02:04,133
And know that you can have a good time

1390
01:02:04,133 --> 01:02:05,430
without being high.

1391
01:02:05,430 --> 01:02:07,497
We're gonna get our dance on a little bit.

1392
01:02:07,497 --> 01:02:08,875
You know all that good stuff.

1393
01:02:08,875 --> 01:02:10,699
And just have a great time.

1394
01:02:10,699 --> 01:02:13,415
♪ This is your call, this is your start ♪

1395
01:02:13,415 --> 01:02:16,577
♪ This is your time ♪

1396
01:02:16,577 --> 01:02:17,671
♪ It's gonna be ♪

1397
01:02:17,671 --> 01:02:20,421
(crowd cheering)

1398
01:02:22,616 --> 01:02:25,656
♪ This is your day, this is your night ♪

1399
01:02:25,656 --> 01:02:28,696
♪ This is your life ♪

1400
01:02:28,696 --> 01:02:31,655
♪ It's gonna be messy ♪

1401
01:02:31,655 --> 01:02:35,181
♪ It's gonna be messy ♪

1402
01:02:35,181 --> 01:02:38,303
- Wednesday's we all got
to all sing in the choir.

1403
01:02:38,303 --> 01:02:40,086
- Yeah.
- I can't--

1404
01:02:40,086 --> 01:02:40,919
(laughing)

1405
01:02:40,919 --> 01:02:41,752
- Where you there, I was there,

1406
01:02:41,752 --> 01:02:43,856
I was at practice
yesterday, it was real deep.

1407
01:02:43,856 --> 01:02:44,747
- Really?

1408
01:02:44,747 --> 01:02:46,896
- Yeah, I felt like the
ladies were getting emotional,

1409
01:02:46,896 --> 01:02:48,274
just practicing the song.

1410
01:02:48,274 --> 01:02:49,733
- Really?
- Yeah.

1411
01:02:49,733 --> 01:02:53,381
You go to the Zone, like any
of those sober fun places?

1412
01:02:53,381 --> 01:02:54,435
- Huh-um.

1413
01:02:54,435 --> 01:02:57,069
- Why not, that's a nice
place you can drive to.

1414
01:02:57,069 --> 01:02:58,893
- Where, I aint heard about this now.

1415
01:02:58,893 --> 01:03:01,163
- You never heard of the Zone?
- Huh-huh.

1416
01:03:01,163 --> 01:03:04,163
- I wanna say it's like
a recreational center

1417
01:03:04,163 --> 01:03:05,338
for people in recovery.

1418
01:03:05,338 --> 01:03:08,176
So they have like, parties
there, like events there.

1419
01:03:08,176 --> 01:03:09,797
They have a lot of stuff
there, you should try.

1420
01:03:09,797 --> 01:03:10,964
- Okay.
- Yeah.

1421
01:03:12,391 --> 01:03:16,039
- Now the solution is creating
a community of recovery.

1422
01:03:16,039 --> 01:03:18,431
You know and so, right now a big push

1423
01:03:18,431 --> 01:03:21,146
is creating recovery communities of care,

1424
01:03:21,146 --> 01:03:24,524
which is people needing the
supports of other people,

1425
01:03:24,524 --> 01:03:25,832
who are doing likely.

1426
01:03:25,832 --> 01:03:27,331
And that's what Mary
Hall Freedom House is,

1427
01:03:27,331 --> 01:03:30,371
a community of recovery, it's
a community of sisterhood.

1428
01:03:30,371 --> 01:03:32,844
You know, one sister
showing another sister,

1429
01:03:32,844 --> 01:03:35,843
I can do this a day at a time.

1430
01:03:35,843 --> 01:03:38,113
- [Narrator] Some of the most
important community members

1431
01:03:38,113 --> 01:03:41,842
has support an addict in
recovery are their family members

1432
01:03:41,842 --> 01:03:45,166
and once a month, Lucy
invites the families

1433
01:03:45,166 --> 01:03:47,517
to come learn how they can become an ally

1434
01:03:47,517 --> 01:03:49,827
and support their loved ones in recovery.

1435
01:03:49,827 --> 01:03:50,719
(heartfelt music)

1436
01:03:50,719 --> 01:03:53,516
- We think the gateway
drugs alcohol and marijuana

1437
01:03:53,516 --> 01:03:57,205
because they're legal, they're all right.

1438
01:03:57,205 --> 01:03:58,704
But if you drink to go to sleep

1439
01:03:58,704 --> 01:04:00,893
and you don't even remember
when you passed out,

1440
01:04:00,893 --> 01:04:02,231
let's have a conversation.

1441
01:04:02,231 --> 01:04:04,338
'cause there's a fine line out there

1442
01:04:04,338 --> 01:04:06,973
that most people don't
even know they've crossed.

1443
01:04:06,973 --> 01:04:08,513
I always tell the women, my story.

1444
01:04:08,513 --> 01:04:10,905
I used to smoke crack in the bathroom.

1445
01:04:10,905 --> 01:04:14,147
And so when I stopped
getting high and today,

1446
01:04:14,147 --> 01:04:17,147
if you go to my house, what's
in my bathroom is my bible.

1447
01:04:17,147 --> 01:04:19,660
Because I had to put
something in that place

1448
01:04:19,660 --> 01:04:23,186
that was greater than was what
was used to be in that place.

1449
01:04:23,186 --> 01:04:25,091
And so 29 years later,

1450
01:04:25,091 --> 01:04:28,496
I didn't stop doing what
I've done to recover.

1451
01:04:28,496 --> 01:04:30,118
And that's what happens a lot of times,

1452
01:04:30,118 --> 01:04:34,293
people stop doing what
got them to this place.

1453
01:04:34,293 --> 01:04:35,427
Right Amanda?

1454
01:04:35,427 --> 01:04:37,251
Amanda, you said you out there 10 years.

1455
01:04:37,251 --> 01:04:38,143
- Yeah.

1456
01:04:38,143 --> 01:04:39,509
- [Lucy] So, being out there 10 years

1457
01:04:39,509 --> 01:04:41,305
and now in recovery how long?

1458
01:04:41,305 --> 01:04:42,521
- Six months.

1459
01:04:42,521 --> 01:04:43,980
- [Lucy] You think six
months in the bucket,

1460
01:04:43,980 --> 01:04:45,763
is gonna make me all better?

1461
01:04:45,763 --> 01:04:47,429
- Oh no.
- [Lucy] Mom said, "Oh, no."

1462
01:04:47,429 --> 01:04:49,207
Mom's over here going um-um.

1463
01:04:49,207 --> 01:04:50,788
- I've learned so much

1464
01:04:50,788 --> 01:04:53,706
and I've learned how
poorly we do handle it

1465
01:04:53,706 --> 01:04:57,881
as an issue in the
community and in treatment.

1466
01:04:57,881 --> 01:04:59,948
And what really has being lacking

1467
01:04:59,948 --> 01:05:04,365
is what you provide here,
is one, the length of time.

1468
01:05:06,190 --> 01:05:10,325
So, I think that, as all
of us that are in recovery

1469
01:05:10,325 --> 01:05:13,811
with our addicts and recovery,
that's part of the advocacy

1470
01:05:13,811 --> 01:05:17,297
is helping to change the healthcare system

1471
01:05:17,297 --> 01:05:19,972
to provide better services.

1472
01:05:19,972 --> 01:05:22,404
Because there's just
not enough Mary Hall's.

1473
01:05:22,404 --> 01:05:25,201
- And you know something, mom,
that is my prayer, my dream.

1474
01:05:25,201 --> 01:05:28,038
I always say and I've
told different people,

1475
01:05:28,038 --> 01:05:30,229
if I can put a Hope Village in every town,

1476
01:05:30,229 --> 01:05:32,578
we'd be in business, 'cause everybody,

1477
01:05:32,578 --> 01:05:34,402
and that's what we are here, hope dealers.

1478
01:05:34,402 --> 01:05:37,888
We push hope to the lost, we
push hope to the community.

1479
01:05:37,888 --> 01:05:40,360
And sometimes in helping others,

1480
01:05:40,360 --> 01:05:43,603
you not only help yourself but
you do help your loved ones.

1481
01:05:43,603 --> 01:05:46,562
- So what we see always
is, not in my backyard,

1482
01:05:46,562 --> 01:05:49,034
we love what you do and
I don't wanna do it here.

1483
01:05:49,034 --> 01:05:51,264
It's great that you do
it, wonderful, bless you,

1484
01:05:51,264 --> 01:05:53,006
all that other stuff.

1485
01:05:53,006 --> 01:05:55,641
So from my perspective
as a community advocate,

1486
01:05:55,641 --> 01:05:56,776
that's what I wanna show.

1487
01:05:56,776 --> 01:05:58,114
I wanna show, look around this room,

1488
01:05:58,114 --> 01:06:00,140
their your neighbors,
their your daughters,

1489
01:06:00,140 --> 01:06:02,329
their your cousins, their your whatever.

1490
01:06:02,329 --> 01:06:03,991
These are normal people.

1491
01:06:03,991 --> 01:06:06,666
This isn't an abnormal thing.

1492
01:06:06,666 --> 01:06:09,260
You know addiction is
such a prevailing problem,

1493
01:06:09,260 --> 01:06:10,598
in the community, it's unbelievable.

1494
01:06:10,598 --> 01:06:12,665
It doesn't matter if it's black
or white, or brown or yellow

1495
01:06:12,665 --> 01:06:15,016
or young or old or if female or male,

1496
01:06:15,016 --> 01:06:16,435
that's what I've seen here.

1497
01:06:16,435 --> 01:06:18,016
It's always what's attracted me to here.

1498
01:06:18,016 --> 01:06:20,285
There is a way out, there is an answer,

1499
01:06:20,285 --> 01:06:21,704
we just have to get the word out.

1500
01:06:21,704 --> 01:06:23,852
- Like I always tell
the women in recovery,

1501
01:06:23,852 --> 01:06:26,568
now you're the disciple
that gotta go share it.

1502
01:06:26,568 --> 01:06:27,401
- Amen.

1503
01:06:27,401 --> 01:06:29,835
- You're the person who's
gotta go tell your story.

1504
01:06:29,835 --> 01:06:32,168
You've gotta be an advocate.

1505
01:06:37,309 --> 01:06:41,079
- I'm nervous, because we
didn't have a graduation

1506
01:06:41,079 --> 01:06:43,997
at the first, not the
first, the other treatment

1507
01:06:43,997 --> 01:06:46,267
that I was in, we didn't
have nothing like this.

1508
01:06:46,267 --> 01:06:48,434
So I'm very, very nervous.

1509
01:06:50,604 --> 01:06:51,937
But I can do it.

1510
01:06:52,955 --> 01:06:54,455
(heartwarming music)

1511
01:06:54,455 --> 01:06:57,455
(audience clapping)

1512
01:07:03,940 --> 01:07:06,331
- There comes a moment in every
one of those woman's lives

1513
01:07:06,331 --> 01:07:08,398
that they know that they in recovery

1514
01:07:08,398 --> 01:07:09,736
and they're ready to graduate

1515
01:07:09,736 --> 01:07:12,736
because they've met those
goals that they set out for.

1516
01:07:12,736 --> 01:07:15,492
And she knows the difference
between just being sober

1517
01:07:15,492 --> 01:07:16,667
and being in recovery.

1518
01:07:16,667 --> 01:07:19,261
She's ready to celebrate it and so are we.

1519
01:07:19,261 --> 01:07:20,923
(audience applauding)

1520
01:07:20,923 --> 01:07:23,193
Our Father and our God, this
is the day that you have made,

1521
01:07:23,193 --> 01:07:24,936
we rejoice and we are glad in it.

1522
01:07:24,936 --> 01:07:26,638
I thank you for this day, but I thank you

1523
01:07:26,638 --> 01:07:28,625
for the later days, a year from now,

1524
01:07:28,625 --> 01:07:31,908
10 years from now, that they
will continue this journey

1525
01:07:31,908 --> 01:07:33,570
of new light called recovery.

1526
01:07:33,570 --> 01:07:35,961
And God you said, if we took one step

1527
01:07:35,961 --> 01:07:37,785
that you would carry
us the rest of the way.

1528
01:07:37,785 --> 01:07:40,136
So we thank you that we've turned to you,

1529
01:07:40,136 --> 01:07:42,973
believing that if we lean
not to our own understanding

1530
01:07:42,973 --> 01:07:45,405
and know all of our
ways, we acknowledge you.

1531
01:07:45,405 --> 01:07:46,488
- [All] Amen.

1532
01:07:49,702 --> 01:07:51,445
- My mother only had
an 8th grade education

1533
01:07:51,445 --> 01:07:55,255
and from the time I was a
child, she had a vision a plan.

1534
01:07:55,255 --> 01:07:56,714
You know what my mother said to me?

1535
01:07:56,714 --> 01:07:59,552
"In spite of where we come
from, in spite of the poverty,

1536
01:07:59,552 --> 01:08:01,943
"the rats, the roaches the vicious poverty

1537
01:08:01,943 --> 01:08:03,362
"that we have to live under,

1538
01:08:03,362 --> 01:08:05,713
"you gotta get on my shoulders
and do better than I did."

1539
01:08:05,713 --> 01:08:07,496
Are you all with me out there?
- [Audience] Yes, amen.

1540
01:08:07,496 --> 01:08:09,361
- You gotta see some
things that I can't see.

1541
01:08:09,361 --> 01:08:11,590
- That's right.
- Right?

1542
01:08:11,590 --> 01:08:14,387
My mother had, what we call a vision.

1543
01:08:14,387 --> 01:08:17,913
Lucy Hall and this program has a vision.

1544
01:08:17,913 --> 01:08:19,737
The women on this stage have a vision,

1545
01:08:19,737 --> 01:08:20,750
'cause they're like, "You know what,

1546
01:08:20,750 --> 01:08:22,412
"it doesn't matter where I was before,

1547
01:08:22,412 --> 01:08:23,993
"what matters is where I am right now."

1548
01:08:23,993 --> 01:08:28,128
Are you all with me out
there? (audience clapping)

1549
01:08:28,128 --> 01:08:31,897
♪ Never said there wouldn't be trials ♪

1550
01:08:31,897 --> 01:08:35,099
♪ Never said I would be far ♪

1551
01:08:35,099 --> 01:08:37,004
- Welcome to--

1552
01:08:37,004 --> 01:08:40,571
♪ Never said that everything would go ♪

1553
01:08:40,571 --> 01:08:42,752
♪ The way I want it to go ♪

1554
01:08:42,752 --> 01:08:44,495
(audience applauding)

1555
01:08:44,495 --> 01:08:48,428
♪ But when my back is against the wall ♪

1556
01:08:48,428 --> 01:08:52,643
♪ And I feel all hope is gone ♪

1557
01:08:52,643 --> 01:08:56,737
♪ I'll just lift my head up to the sky ♪

1558
01:08:56,737 --> 01:09:00,547
♪ And say help me to be strong ♪

1559
01:09:00,547 --> 01:09:05,547
♪ Oh, I just can't give up now ♪

1560
01:09:10,235 --> 01:09:15,235
♪ Oh no, come too far from
where I started from ♪

1561
01:09:17,687 --> 01:09:21,173
♪ Oh, nobody told me ♪

1562
01:09:21,173 --> 01:09:22,006
(audience applauding)

1563
01:09:22,006 --> 01:09:25,754
♪ Oh no, it would be easy ♪

1564
01:09:25,754 --> 01:09:29,564
♪ And I don't believe
it's brought me this far ♪

1565
01:09:29,564 --> 01:09:32,320
- And it's being a journey,
but it was well worth it.

1566
01:09:32,320 --> 01:09:34,874
(audience applauding)

1567
01:09:34,874 --> 01:09:36,130
- [Narrator] Come Monday,

1568
01:09:36,130 --> 01:09:39,616
Lucy will continue her work
with a new group of women.

1569
01:09:39,616 --> 01:09:42,778
But first, she celebrates
as the Donna Center,

1570
01:09:42,778 --> 01:09:45,483
finally opens it's doors.

1571
01:09:45,483 --> 01:09:46,588
(crowd cheering)

1572
01:09:46,588 --> 01:09:49,587
- 'Cause I had to keep reminding
them what this was for,

1573
01:09:49,587 --> 01:09:51,046
'cause you were walking in here thinking,

1574
01:09:51,046 --> 01:09:53,235
you can check into a hotel,

1575
01:09:53,235 --> 01:09:56,194
but that was really what
it was designed to do,

1576
01:09:56,194 --> 01:09:58,950
to make people feel like they were home.

1577
01:09:58,950 --> 01:09:59,783
- [Narrator] Through this journey,

1578
01:09:59,783 --> 01:10:01,423
I've learned we all have a responsibility

1579
01:10:01,423 --> 01:10:04,625
to our loved ones in our communities.

1580
01:10:04,625 --> 01:10:06,733
One simple thing we all can do,

1581
01:10:06,733 --> 01:10:09,246
is change the way we talk about addiction.

1582
01:10:09,246 --> 01:10:11,663
As a disease and not a crime.

1583
01:10:12,658 --> 01:10:16,258
For those in recovery, share your story

1584
01:10:16,258 --> 01:10:19,091
for everyone else, become an ally,

1585
01:10:20,352 --> 01:10:22,054
you just might save a life.

1586
01:10:22,054 --> 01:10:25,013
♪ I can't give up now ♪

1587
01:10:25,013 --> 01:10:30,013
♪ I can't give up now ♪

1588
01:10:31,215 --> 01:10:33,244
♪ Said I've come too far ♪

1589
01:10:33,244 --> 01:10:38,244
♪ Come too far from where I started from ♪

1590
01:10:39,405 --> 01:10:41,431
♪ No one said it would be easy ♪

1591
01:10:41,431 --> 01:10:46,431
♪ Nobody told me, that
the road would be easy ♪

1592
01:10:48,444 --> 01:10:53,444
♪ And I don't believe, he's
brought me this far to leave me ♪

1593
01:10:54,288 --> 01:10:56,267
- [Narrator] Visit Hope Village Project dot com

1594
01:10:56,267 --> 01:10:58,172
for more information.

1595
01:10:58,172 --> 01:11:00,279
And get the book that
accompanies this film.

1596
01:11:00,279 --> 01:11:04,772
Hope Dealer, A Complete
Guide, From Rehab To Recovery.