WOMAN SUCCEEDS IN STRUGGLE TO REMAIN DRUG-FREE

When Sally headed down the road of drug addiction, she ended up in a
very dark place.

She contracted HIV at age 37 and believed she "would be dead in a year."

That was 13 years ago. Sally has been off drugs for three months and
is able to talk about her life with raw honesty.

Sally is among the thousands of people who are to receive $125
cheques from The Gazette Christmas Fund this year.

The money helps make the holiday season a little more cheerful for
needy families and individuals.

Sally says her troubles go back to her childhood.

"For as long as I can remember, I felt 'less than,' " she said.

"I grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood in Montreal West. Our
family was one of the few families with a divorced and an absent father.

"We lived in a duplex. This was the only duplex on the street. So
because I felt like I was living in the ghetto and was not as well
dressed as the others around me, I began to develop feelings of 'less than.' "

The first time Sally experienced a temporary escape from feelings of
inadequacy was when she started experimenting with drugs.

"One way I felt 'in' with the cool crowd was in high school. I
started to take hashish and other mind-altering substances."

Experimentation turned to addiction when Sally was in her mid-20s.
She was a single mother trying to make ends meet ,as well as trying
to help her daughter, who was struggling in French immersion.

Sally says her drug use got out of hand after she got a job as a
secretary for a company vice-president who required her to perform
sexual favours.

"My mother stepped in and took my daughter. I wasn't capable anymore."

Sally contracted HIV during her years of heavy drug use.

"It was through sharing needles."

She went into drug rehabilitation for the first time when she was in
her late 20s and has been struggling ever since, Sally said.

Today, she is enjoying a stint of sobriety.

Sally keeps herself busy with volunteer work and art classes, and
frequently attends Cocaine Anonymous meetings.

She says she'll spend part of the money she receives from the Gazette
Christmas Fund on baking supplies so she can take treats to her
Cocaine Anonymous meetings.