Local News - July 2002

‘Overcomer’ recalls painful crack addiction

By ANDIE LEATHERMAN, LTN Staff Writer

July 8, 2002 - Every Thursday night they meet at Sunrise Community’s Family Resource Center with one goal — to help each other stay sober. Overcomers is a support group for anyone battling an addiction.

One participant agreed to share her story in hopes of letting others know help is available.

Mary, not her real name, credits God and her youngest daughter for her recovery from a 15-year-crack cocaine addiction. She also credits Overcomers for helping her stay sober.

Her recovery began three years ago. Mary, then 38 and pregnant, knew prison was inevitable if her daughter tested positive for drugs at birth. The threat of losing her daughter and spending time in jail forced her to own up to the addictive personality which had plagued more than half of her life.

“We (addicts) must be made to get help,” Mary said.

When she became pregnant, Mary was living in an east Lincoln community known as a haven for drug dealers. She knew she had to leave before she could get sober.

She first went to Bridgeway Hospital in Transylvania, then a residential program for unwed mothers in Charlotte. Mary returned to Lincoln County and though she was not abused, she was allowed to stay at Amy’s House Domestic Violence Shelter while waiting for an apartment in Sunrise Community. After two years there, Mary, who recently turned 40, was able to leave the public housing apartment complex and rent a home through the federal Section 8 program.

Mary believes her addiction began at age 10 when she stole beer from the adults around her. A perfectionist as a child, Mary used the substance to mask her fear of failure. A few years later, working as a waitress, she took amphetamines. The habit continued until she was free basing cocaine.

“That was what put me out there. I’m a strong woman and that thing took me for a loop,” Mary said.

She remembers working just enough to buy crack then smoking it during binges that last two and three days. Sometimes Mary smoked by candlelight — she did not have enough money to pay her electric bill.

“I’ve wasted so much money. I used every dime I had,” she said.

The drugs had driven her blood pressure dangerously high. At one point, Mary lost so much weight she had to tie a string around her pants to keep them from falling off.

“It was a matter of time that I would have had a heart attack or stroke,” Mary said. “I was in bad shape. I was a mess.”

Mary admits she was not a mother to her son, 23, and oldest daughter, 20. After the baby was born three years ago, her daughter visited the hospital. After holding her baby sister, she was able to began forgiving her mother.

“I think that is when the healing process began,” Mary said.

Today, her son is in prison.

“I know I hurt them. Had I been there for them, maybe things would have been different,” she said.

Mary credits her sobriety on admitting she was powerless over drugs and surrendering to God.

“I don’t care what you’ve done, by the grace of God you can come out of it,” she said.

Now, Mary feels like she has a debt to pay back.

“Because he (God) gave me another chance, I will serve him,” Mary said.

Studying for her General Equivalency Diploma, Mary wants to continue her education in a field that will allow her to help others. She does not know precisely what type of work she will do, but is confident the right job is waiting for her.

“If I can come out of this, there is no telling where I can go,” she said. “God has a plan.”

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Overcomers meets on Thursday nights from 8 to 9 p.m. at the Sunrise Community Center on Deaton Street.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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