PROGRAM LEADS WOMEN FROM DRUG ABUSE

ASHEVILLE - For more than 13 years, Angela Dalton's life sank lower
and lower as her addiction to crack cocaine took over. Her two
daughters, now 11 and 13, were taken from her. She spent a year in
prison.

"I was working the streets just to make money to support my habit,"
Dalton said this week. "I was miserable in the streets."

Finally, she became pregnant with her third child and decided she had
to turn her life around. On Jan. 6, she quit using drugs and went into
treatment. She signed onto an outpatient substance abuse program for
women at Blue Ridge Center called Pathways for Change, an intensive
12-week program that helps women discover their reasons for using drugs.

Earlier this month, the program was recognized by the N.C. Council of
Community Programs in its Programs of Excellence, a recognition of
"programs that have gone above and beyond the standard to find
creative and groundbreaking ways of providing vital services to their
communities."

Substance abuse - addiction - is one of the most intractable
illnesses. Only one in three people who go through a rehabilitation
program will remain drug- and alcohol-free for life, said Suzane
Boehn, director of Pathways for Change.

"Recovering from substance abuse requires some hard work," Boehm said.
"Our program gets them setting and attaining goals. It gives them
structure, which is what they need so they can become responsible for
their own recovery."

Participants in Pathways for Change are required to attend the program
every day unless they have a doctor's appointment or other good reason
to be absent. They must complete homework assignments and keep a daily
journal.

"The program gave me tools to use in my everyday life," Watson said.
"It helped me know what my own issues are and get me working on what I
need to be working on.

"For recovery to happen, you have to want it," she said. "You have to
work on your life skills and learn to focus on yourself in new ways."

Since the program is outpatient, it's accessible to more people than
inpatient programs, which often have waiting lists months long, said
Lawrence Thompson, area director of Blue Ridge Center.

"What we hear from people who've gone through the program is that it's
made a real difference in their lives and that's something you don't
hear often from people in this population." he said.

For Dalton, the main goal is keeping her now 2-month-old daughter and
being a good mother. She has landed a job and is saving for a car.

Eventually she wants to go back to school. But for now, she's living
sober and straight, one day at a time.

"I have six months clean now," she said. "I'm looking forward to a
year."