THERESA SILAS: A STORY OF RECOVERY

A Former Junkie And Thief Found A Way Out Through Free At Last

Theresa Silas was addicted to crack, heroin and alcohol for 20 years.
She made her living as a petty thief, stealing clothing from stores.
At one time, she had more than 50 aliases, and she can't count the
number of times she has been arrested. This was her life, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.

On February 28, 1995, Silas was arrested again. What appeared to be
just another line item on her lengthy rap sheet turned out to be
Silas' greatest blessing.

Silas was born in San Francisco in 1949 and moved to Menlo Park when
she was 15. She was number three of 13 children born to a single,
welfare mom who, Silas said, did the best she could with what she had.

Like so many young girls, Silas wanted to wear pretty dresses and
ribbons in her hair, but her mother couldn't afford such luxuries. On
rainy days, Silas didn't go to school because she had holes in her
shoes and her mother didn't want her to catch a cold.

"Because kids can be cruel," Silas said, she began skipping school in
the third grade. She spent her time looking through mailboxes in hopes
of finding money to buy herself a pretty dress. And that's about all
Silas remembers about school.

"I loved first, second and third grade, but I can't remember if I went
to school or not after that," reflected Silas.

Growing up in San Francisco in the 1960s, Silas was exposed to what
she calls "the hustle life."

"The prostitutes were dressed pretty, they had nice shoes, and men in
Cadillacs were always talking to them," Silas said.

Although her vision of prostitutes was naive, Silas wanted to be like
them. She wanted their pretty shoes and pretty clothes. "I just wanted
to be a pretty girl."

Silas began snorting cocaine at 19. That's how she thought she could
be "like them." She never worked as a prostitute, but she did meet a
man who taught her how to make a career out of "boosting," shoplifting
merchandise that she would exchange with him for her rent money, food
and drugs.

Boosting was her career, when she wasn't in jail, for about 20
years.

"There was a skill to it," Silas recalls. "I wore a long-line bra (one
that fits down to the waist) and a girdle, and I would go into a store
and stuff leather jackets into my bra and girdle, hangers and all."

Skilled or not, Silas got caught. A lot. In fact, Silas says she can't
even count the number of jails she has been in around the country.

On February 28, 1995, she was arrested at Serramonte Shopping Center
in Daly City and was sent to jail for the last time.

"I gave the police all kinds of names, but eventually they found out I
was Theresa Silas."

The judge sentenced her to one year in the Women's Correctional
Facility in Redwood City, where she was offered the opportunity to
change her life. It was there she was introduced to "Choices," a
counseling program run by former offenders, which in turn referred her
to Free At Last.

She spent six months at Walker House, a residential treatment program
Free At Last runs for women, learning how to take charge of her life.
She developed a wide range of life skills, including how to budget,
resolve conflicts and eat well. The lessons in family life led her to
get back in touch with her own family and repair broken
relationships.

"When my son showed up with his little baby, I broke down," said
Silas. "I have never experienced real feelings like that before. Only
medicated ones."

Theresa has made amends with two of her three children and hopes her
oldest son will eventually forgive her the past and be a part of her
future. Brothers, sisters, grandchildren and her mother are all an
active part of her life now, something Silas says she never would have
had without the help of Free At Last.

When she finished the six-month program, Silas recalls, "I felt so
good. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing something for the
first time in my life."

From Free At Last, Silas went on to a "jobs now" program at
Opportunities Industrial Center West in Menlo Park, where she learned
skills that would help her get the longest job she has ever held--two
years, five months and running as a telephone operator.

"The first interview I went on at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, I
got," Silas beamed.

"Now," she stated proudly, "I am operator No. 35, where we put
veterans first."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry