RECOVERING ADDICT TELLS SUCCESS STORY

Sariah Parker, 26, made the decision months ago to ditch drugs and
give her children -- and herself -- a better life. From an
unemployed, crack cocaine addicted mom on social assistance, Parker
is now happily working on landscaping projects all around the city.
And these days, when her three-year-old daughter asks,, "Going to
work now, Mom?' that is the only "high" she needs.

Parker is the mother of five children. Two girls live with their
father. Her dad raised her oldest son, born when Parker was just 15.
She cares for two children including a one-year-old son, at home.

Her severe crack cocaine habit once cost her everything. Now she
hopes her work with DART (Drug Awareness and Recovery Team) will pave
the way for a better future and higher education.

"I want to take First Nations Studies at UNBC. That's my future
goal," she said. "I'm healthy now. I've never felt so good."

Parker started doing drugs four years ago.

"Any time I got money, I spent in on crack. Everything revolves
around it. In the end, there was nothing at all. No car and no
possessions. Worst of all, my child was taken away by social services."

Then she lost her husband.

"He was killed in a car accident. At first, I didn't want to be in
the real world," said Parker. "When I found out I was pregnant again,
though, I decided to clean up. I didn't want my children to lose both
parents. My daughter was in [ministry of children and family
development] care for three months. I did everything and anything
they told me to do. I jumped through all the hoops, sometimes I was
even one step ahead of them. I realized I had children who needed me."

Her daughter was returned. Parker made the break from drugs. She
considers herself lucky to have left illicit drugs behind at a
relatively young age. Now any money she earns goes not to buy drugs
but to build her new life.

"I get paid once a week. Now I make healthier choices. I play the
tape in my head. Drugs are a different world. I look at my kids
because I've been there before. I want to work, to stay clean and
maybe share my story with others. I've learned the lessons. I've
relapsed a few times too so I understand."

DART has helped sort out goals, she said.

"When I first came to DART, I got my First Aid training. [executive
director] Bob [Scott] figures out our strengths and skills. He
thought I'd be good at outreach work and public speaking. I also love
the outdoors so I got work on one of DART's contracts for Spruceland
maintaining the flower beds. When I started, I had absolutely no
skills with operating landscaping equipment. Now I can operate just
about anything."

She even got her driver's licence back.

"I got money from working with DART and put it on my driver's license
and my Dad topped it up. That was a big thing for me. Now I want to
get my flagging ticket."

Scott calls her a success story.

"People can succeed in recovery by observing and emulating other
successful people and Sariah is a classic example of that," he said.

Her own decision to go straight and turn her life around has meant a
better standard of living.

"I am a self-supporting mother. I was on assistance for eight years.
This is the first time that I have been able to look after my family
by myself. It feels good. I have a nice home I got through BC Housing
and nice things around me."

She speaks of her "messed up" past as hard lessons learned. Her future?

"I'd like to do outreach with young people and talk to other women
about drug use. I want to tell them, "blink and your life can be
gone, just like that."