El Centro de Libertad | The Freedom Center

RECOVERY STORIES:
LISA | JOSE | MARY | CHRIS

One of six children of alcoholic parents, Chris "took everything around."

We kids used to make mom give us meds before we'd go to school. And then I'd go through her purse to see what else I could find. When I got older, I'd drive my dad home from his weekend job tending bar and have a few drinks while I was waiting around. Around that time my parents began attending AA and I started to think I might be an alcoholic, but I didn't have all the classic symptoms. I thought maybe I wasn't even good at being an alcoholic," Chris explained.

Chris was pregnant when she was arrested on a DUI and ended up in Drug Court. Although the Court initially insisted that she attend a full day program, they reluctantly allowed her to register at El Centro. "But they told me that I if I didn't do it right they'd lock me up in a residential program or they'd take my child." So Chris began meeting with her counselor and attending AA meetings.

"The staff at El Centro really made me think. Everyone who worked with me - Grace Nelson, my PO, Kathy Prescott - was really cool. Kathy arranged all these services because I was pregnant and stayed with me all the way through; she even visited me in the hospital and brought a gift when Angelina was born — with no drugs in her system," Chris proudly added.

(Chris continued....) "Not too long ago, Ramon, my counselor at El Centro, began bugging me. He thought I was getting complacent with my sobriety. He was right, I was coming close to getting high. So I got a sponsor and began attending AA meetings. I want to recover, to feel better and get on with my life. I'm 41; it's time to make a good life for my daughter and myself. I can't afford to make any mistakes now."