REBUILDING LIVES, RESTORING HOPE

Drug Treatment Center Opens

MERIDIAN - Stuffed animals and dolls dot the living room of Dr. Betsy
Storms' newly opened drug addiction treatment center for women.

The toys are not there for children, but for the women who come to Storms
for help in rebuilding their lives after drugs, like cocaine, heroin,
methamphetamine, prescription pills and alcohol, have taken their toll.

"We have those around because it's so important that they go back and
remember what it was like to be free as a child, and what happened that
stopped that spontaneity," Storms said. "It's important to heal all those
places when we started to feel that fear, to regain our abilities and
creativity."

Her clients rise at 6 a.m. with breakfast and a meditative walk through the
woods. After yoga class, they meet with a nutritionist and relaxation and
massage therapists. They study art and creative writing and then meditate
again while gardening or writing in their journals.

Along the way, Storms has placed messages of hope throughout the center on
garden stones and wall signs.

"Today is the day that worried you yesterday, and all is well," reads one
sign. On a nearby pillow, are Emily Dickinson's words: "Dwell in possibility."

Nestled in the woods beyond the northern city limits, Storms'
not-for-profit center, The Best of Both Worlds, addresses clients'
physical, psychological and spiritual needs. During the seven-week stay,
clients learn to reconnect with their mind, body and spirit, she said.

Clients will find no antiseptic-smelling, white-washed rooms in this
facility. The inpatient house, much like her 5-year-old outpatient therapy
center next door, has been chicly decorated by Storms herself. Each room
has a different feel, with pleasant scents and visually appealing
surroundings. Feather lamps, stained glass, butterflies, candles - even a
small waterfall - serve as a background.

Despite appearances, the treatment center is not a well-laid plan to
attract the wealthy with its spa-like qualities.

"Our current patients are on Medicaid," said operations and marketing
director Tim Beaver. "And we're working to set up scholarships for people
who can't afford treatment and who don't have insurance. We're open for
everybody."

Aside from the massages, calming music and gourmet coffees, Storms'
patients are expected to work hard if they want to recover. Laced between
the nature walks and private journaling is daily group and private therapy
sessions, AA and NA meetings and nondenominational spiritual study. The
women are also expected to follow a rigorous schedule, cook their own meals
and clean up their own messes.

Three house managers are all recovering drug addicts who can easily
identify with the pains of drug addiction. Seven other professionals - from
counselors to nutritionists, art and yoga instructors - tend to clients'
physical and psychological needs.

Clients who need detoxification must first undergo that process under the
strict medical care of a hospital. Once they have cleared that hurdle,
Storms takes over with nurturing, love, patience and three strict house
rules - no drugs, no visitors except on specified Sunday hours and limited
TV and phone time.

Storms, Beaver and their third partner, John Clay, hope The Best of Both
Worlds will become a premiere drug addiction healing center in the country,
largely because of its uniqueness and locale. Cabin construction is planned
to accommodate up to 13 patients since the facility currently occupies only
five inpatient beds.

"There are plenty of facilities around that treat men only," Beaver said.
"Most women who can't afford treatment, who don't have $28,000 or $30,000
to spend, who don't have jobs, or who are working people, usually end up in
Whitfield, the state hospital. But here, you're not walking into a painted
brick building with security doors or things you would quintessentially
find in hospitals. You're coming into a home of love and caring and nurturing."

So far, two women have graduated from the program and three others are on
the road to recovery. Beaver said long-range plans include opening the
center to treat men, so that The Best of Both Worlds will exclude no one.