Tiffany

Tiffany’s 23 years in active addiction resulted in many arrests and stints in jail – and many courtroom offers to enter a detox program. Over and over again, she declined to sign on. 

“I was looking for that high all the time, in alcohol, crack, a little bit of everything,” Tiffany said. She recalls wanting to keep using, despite knowing addiction was a fatal disease that she had seen take her own loved ones. Even though she was worried about dying out on the streets herself, Tiffany also realizes now that each of those times she declined detox at court appearances was because she was likely ‘too out of it’ to recognize what the opportunity could mean.

Until last summer when she was in court after an arrest on three warrants. 

“This time I must have slipped up and said ‘yes,’ and I started on Klonopin(a seizure and

anxiety medication that is also effective for alcohol withdrawal) while in the downtown jail,” she said. It was, she says, an emotional and spiritual time.

That first step in recovery led to her release to a local residential in-patient rehab. Sixty days into her 90-day program, Tiffany was dismissed due to running afoul of the facility’s strict house rules. She landed at a shelter for women. There she was evaluated with a high score that added up to a referral to Person Centered Housing Options.

“During that evaluation at the shelter, they asked things like how many times I’d been to jail, whether I’d experienced domestic violence, things like that,” Tiffany said. 

By her own estimation, she’d been arrested “a lot” just in the past two years; an altercation with an abusive boyfriend resulted in an arrest and warrants issued for not returning to court. With no address and no phone number, she had found the system unworkable.

The referral to PCHO was timely. Tiffany had qualified for a Department of Health and Human Services grant for housing support, but she had trouble finding apartments and getting connected with landlords. 

“I tried to do everything I needed to do while I was in the shelter and my case was opened. All I needed was to find a place and get that landlord statement,” Tiffany said.

Working with Joyce, a PCHO Housing Stability Coordinator, meant finding a place that fit her budget and needs; Joyce worked her connections to help secure an apartment and landlord statement just a few days before Christmas. Tiffany has stayed in touch with Joyce, who she calls a positive force in helping her stay encouraged and on track with the paperwork required for her housing support.

Tiffany also stays focused on maintaining her recovery.

“I am working this [recovery] program, thanks to God, detox, and a good support system,” Tiffany said. “Things continue to fall into place for me. I wake up clean every day and happy every day.”

Today Tiffany is taking it one day at a time, repairing relationships and looking forward to cutting the cake on her one-year anniversary of recovery. Continuing to be present for herself is how she views the future.

“Now I have keys, a t.v., and I’m making sure I take care of business to live this recovery life in comfort,” Tiffany said. “Because now I know I was searching for something I already have — myself. 

And I’m going to stay grateful, stay positive, and fight for myself every day.”