Lisa’s Story

Lisa lived a normal life in Detroit, MI with her husband and two children. But in 2005, things began to unravel after her daughter passed away suddenly from lung failure.

“When she got sick, I started going through a lot of emotions. I felt like a failure. It brought me to a spot that was not good and I started using pills”. Four years of grief and substance use disorder ended in divorce, after which, Lisa went to rehab and was able to avoid substances for 3 years.

“I got clean and I stayed clean for several years. But then I met somebody that smoked crack, and I smoked crack with him… I lost everything.”

Lisa was able to get clean again, but unfortunately, health issues caused her to return to substance use. “I started having really bad back problems. I couldn’t find a doctor to give me any medication, so I started buying pills. And when I couldn’t find the pills somebody I knew said 'why don’t you take some heroin?’ So I took some heroin. I thought I’d just use it a few times and that would be it, but that didn’t happen. Before you know it, it’s fentanyl they give you… After a while, my boyfriend found out and he left. He was paying the bills still. Then I lost my job, and then I lost the apartment.”

Her next living situation was no better, with her roommate being an active meth user. “About three weeks after I stayed there I didn’t realize she was doing a bunch of meth. She was shooting it. She would stay up almost the whole time I was there. One day she decided to kick me out. I had nothing - all of my stuff was there, she wouldn’t let me come and get it. I had two car accidents prior to that so I had no transportation. Needless to say, I was kind of rock bottom at that point.”

For the next four weeks, Lisa lived in a hotel room, borrowing money just to stay there. All she had left was her job, but she soon lost that too, after accidentally falling asleep at work due to exhaustion. Having reached an all time low, Lisa thankfully still had the support of two friends, friends which encouraged her to finally get the help she needed.

“At that point, I didn’t have anything. My friend said that if you get help and get clean, I will help you. My other friend said the same thing. So I got all the information I could together and found New Directions. I went to the Lighthouse and they contacted New Directions to ensure I had a bed… When I came here I was deathly sick. I don’t know how anybody would want to use it again because I was so sick.”

Lisa’s time at the Women’s Shelter began with a rapid withdrawal from her substance use disorder, but thanks to the resources available at New Directions, she was quickly connected with Shoreline Behavioral Health Services for treatment.

Daily peer-led group meetings at the shelter have helped keep her on track. “This shelter is a lot different than the shelter that I had been in. The fact that this shelter works with you while you’re going through your sobriety is a plus for a lot of people. A lot of places wouldn’t let you come into their shelter if you were using or had been using. With that being said, that’s the bonus, and the fact that Brandy (Novak, Peer Support Specialist) knows so much, because she’s been through similar situations so it’s a lot easier for her to understand where we’re coming from when we talk about it.”

Shortly after coming to the shelter, Lisa was able to get her old job back. Late last month, after a five month stay, Lisa was able to find a roommate and move into a shared apartment. “It took us two months to find a place and now I’m really happy that we got it. I have worked really hard and saved money… Unfortunately, I don’t have the best credit and my roommate is just starting to get good credit. I had the money and saved the money, just didn’t have the credit.”

Thanks to her having a roommate, housing was a possibility for Lisa. However, for those seeking housing on their own, finding affordable housing in the current market is nearly impossible. “I would need more if I was living by myself. The rent and housing is so bad here. It’s really sad. They need to have a better solution. When you find an apartment, they want you to make two-and-a-half to three times the rent, when most people live paycheck to paycheck… Eventually, I would like to have my own apartment without a roommate but we’ll see how the market goes. I would love for my family to come down and visit.”

Although living with a roommate is not where she wants to be long-term, Lisa is content with her current housing situation and the financial freedom it currently affords her. “It’s so nice to be able to go to the store and buy something I want and have money to do it - I love it. I can go shopping and buy some things and not be like ‘oh, that was my last $10 dollars’ or ‘how am I going to get more money?’”.

Lisa’s next goals are to buy a car and work on her relationships with her family. “My mom passed away so it’s just me and my brothers. Neither brother talks to me. We haven’t talked since my mom passed away in 2014. When I was using, my whole family didn’t talk to me. I just started talking to them a couple years ago... But I wasn’t around my son either. He’s 26, so I’m trying to repair that relationship. Those are my goals right now - a car and working on talking to my son, maybe going to see him.”

Now on her own, Lisa’s time at New Directions has come to mean a lot to her. “I’ve learned to appreciate things a lot more now. I don’t take things for granted anymore. I really didn’t want to leave here… I really liked it. It was like my family. Everyone has been really really nice here. I can’t think of a better way to rebuild yourself. This place is wonderful. It’s just, you don’t have to worry while you’re trying to get yourself better… It was a lot easier to work on myself and learn different ways to cope.”

To those still struggling with addiction and substance use disorder, Lisa’s message is, “Don’t give up. Try to go like I did to a 30 day rehab… Pray (pray a lot!). Just keep trying. Eventually you’ll get it… Come up with a plan, and work it. It’s not going to happen overnight. It didn’t take overnight to get there. Using and being addicted to things, especially things that are harmful, it’s not easy - you’ve got to work very hard at it. It does help to have a good support system, if you don’t have any help it makes it a lot harder.”

For Lisa, her transformation was all about meeting the right people and setting boundaries. ”You meet the wrong people. If you want to get clean, you can’t stay with the same people. It’s sad because some of the people you were friends with you will have to walk away from. If you’re not willing to walk away from them, it’s not going to happen. I could not be around someone who is using right now. The lady that I used to get my stuff from, we became pretty close, but I have not even called her. I don’t want to even talk to her because I don’t want any kind of pressure.”

Over the past five months, Lisa has made incredible progress, regaining her sobriety, getting her job back, and securing housing with a roommate. But more than just regaining her life’s structure and a support system to maintain, at New Directions, Lisa found family. “I’m going to miss being around everyone. I say this is like my family here, but I’m going to try to be around everyone and stop by. I’m going to try to come once a week on my days off and then maybe eventually when I get a little more settled, I might start volunteering, give back, pay it forward… This has been one of the best things I have ever done.”

Helping people like Lisa find recovery is indeed one of the best things we do as an organization. We can’t wait to see how Lisa and others are able to achieve their best life possible and pay it forward.