Success Story: Tracie
“This program saved my life! I was released on February 26, 2008. I had nowhere to go and I knew that I would end up in the same situation if I went back to any of the places I used to live. I am on the Drug Offender’s Sentencing Alternative. This means I have been given a lighter sentence—if I do well. If not, I go back to prison to finish my time.
I’ve wanted to do well every time I got out of prison, but this last time one thing changed that gave me the hope I prayed for so many times before. This time with Second Step I was given an opportunity I had never had: a place to start.
I have several felony convictions and have been told by prosecutors that I am a menace to society, a three-time loser and a waste of time. I always believed if I just had somewhere to go, somewhere safe, it would be different. So, I went straight to a corrections officer I worked with before and said, “I’m homeless. HELP!”
She took me back to her office where I gave her a name and number I had gotten in prison about a lady who might help, Sarah Bowens with Second Step Housing. We called and Sarah worked it out for me to stay in a room at one of the transitional houses until the paperwork was finished. On March 1st, I moved into the Re-Entry Housing Program.
Sarah and I got together and set goals to get me started. I got my SSI reinstated and my food stamps. Sarah got me hygiene products and she even brought clothing donations from her own closet. I got a bus pass and started attending meetings and group education classes. I visited the college and enrolled in the Displaced Homemakers Program in the summer of 2008. I was able to save money and get my driver’s license and my own car with insurance by July.
I was Second Step’s first re-entry client so when the other women started coming, I helped them with all the information I had gathered on where stuff was or how to get to meetings or to just talk.
I was united with a mentor and reunited with my family. I have 4 grown children and 6 grandchildren. I built a positive support group. I started delivering papers at the end of August for the Columbian so I could continue school during the day.
I pay fines every month, I have had no relapses, and over the course of a year, I have completed several group education classes including Tenant Education. On February 4, 2009, I moved into my own apartment. I have a bank account in good standing as well as my first secured Visa that I got through Building Healthier Families and the Share House Program. I have a working budget and have found I trust myself for the first time in a long time, AND my family trusts me again.
I am on the Honor Role at Clark College. I have been clean and sober since September 17, 2006 and am working on my Associate’s Degree in Applied Science to become an Addiction Counselor and work with Department of Corrections and programs like Second Step.
I am still considered high-risk to re-offend, but what they don’t consider is why. I have been to prison three times and have talked to a lot of women who, like me, just need somewhere to start, somewhere safe.”
—Tracie