FINDING ROOM FOR A NEW LIFE

DURHAM--After 15 years of heroin addiction and four months in the Durham
County jail, Cynthia Dills got a chance to start anew. Two weeks ago,
instead of going back to her home in Wake County, Dills moved into a
residential treatment program called the Recovering Women's House.

"I want a new life," said Dills, 29, while sitting in the chapel in the
house in South Durham. "Spiritually, I want a new life, one with
self-respect and responsibility."

That's the goal of judges and prosecutors as well, who are increasingly
looking for alternatives to jail for women who commit petty crimes because
of a drug habit. But the number of facilities that can serve them is
shrinking because of state and local budget cuts, court officials and
substance abuse counselors say. As a result, more of these women end up on
the streets or behind bars.

"There is a need for more facilities in the Triangle, and there are very
few services for drug treatment left in Durham at all," said Trish Hussey,
executive director of a 12-bed facility called the Freedom House Recovery
Center in Chapel Hill. "If you are indigent or poor because of your
addiction, you can't access treatment. We all have definitely felt the pinch."

For the first time, the six-bed Recovering Women's House is getting
referrals from Wake County judges, said the Rev. Thomas "Burnie" Bass,
founder of the nonprofit Christian-based facility on Wadsworth Avenue. Bass
said inquiries have doubled, and four women recently interviewed for the
last open bed at the house.

"We have a waiting list now, and that's never been the case," Bass said.
The Oakleigh Treatment Center, operated by the Durham County mental health
agency and Durham Regional Hospital, was forced to close last summer
because of budget cuts.

"One of the shortfalls we've always had in Durham is the lack of facilities
for people who need long-term places for recovery," said Durham District
Judge Elaine O'Neal. "And that need is especially great for women who may
have other circumstances, such as husbands and children."

Tony Porrett, an inpatient supervisor at the Wake County Alcoholism
Treatment Center, said one reason for the shortage of women's facilities is
the stigma of seeking help.

"Largely due to children and family structure, women have had to bear with
it more," Porrett said.

Often when there are no spaces in treatment centers, women resort to the
lifestyle that initiated their need for rehabilitation, said Peter Baker,
the program director of Durham's three drug courts.

"They might end up in a shelter if they don't have any support from their
families," Baker said. "Women catch it harder than men. A woman is pretty
much out on her luck if she doesn't get into a structured environment. And
that usually results in her prostituting and doing petty crimes to support
her habit."

The six-month program at the Recovering Women's House offers plenty of
structure.

The Recovering Women's House has been in operation since 1995, and more
than 200 women have come through the program. Bass said 95 percent of the
women are still clean.

Once a woman -- usually referred from a court agency -- is accepted into
the program, she has several weeks to find a first-shift job. She then must
pay $85 a week for rent and attend at least three Alcoholics Anonymous or
Narcotics Anonymous meetings a week.

Weekly Bible study and church attendance on Sunday are mandatory.

The two-story, 10-room house is at the end of cul-de-sac surrounded by
trees. There are three upstairs bedrooms -- two for residents and the other
for the program director. Downstairs, one of the rooms serves as a chapel
and a meeting room. Visiting hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Men are permitted
only in the living room and the chapel.

The residents must be in the house by 6 p.m. every day, unless they are
attending an AA or NA group meeting. Each woman must have a female
"sponsor," a former addict who has been clean for a year and working
through a 12-step recovery program.

"Being here teaches you how to live with women in harmony," Dills said.
"It's easier to run to someone for help, especially since I don't have the
drug anymore. We all have something in common."

The house resident director is Sharon Lovette, 40, a two-year recovering
cocaine addict from Charlotte. Lovette said that for the first time, these
women are on the same team.

"When you are living a drug life, you trust no one, especially another
woman," said Lovette, who is attending Durham Technical Community College
to become a substance-abuse counselor.

"By being in a women-only facility, there is no competition. You all want
the same thing, and that's a better life."

Valerie Womack, 42, of Durham has lived at the house for three months while
two of her three children are being raised by other people. It is her first
time in recovery, and Womack said she has learned more about herself than ever.

"For the first time in a long time, I feel good about myself," she said. "I
pray to God that everything will keep going for me."