Our Stories
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Voice of the Recovery Community Award
Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) is the recipient of The Joel Hernandez Voice of the Recovery Community Award!
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Our Stories
Shireda Prince
Virginia
Drug addiction will make you do things that you never thought were possible. My brother came to visit me once. We ordered pizza and I got a call. I said, "I'll be back." I was gone for five days. When I got back I had been to another country. Literally. Costa Rica. I didn't stop to think. Nor did I want to think. I was going to get IT. IT was crack cocaine. IT had gotten to be more important than the job, the man, the children. IT got to be the love of my life. I had a love/hate relationship because when it was gone, I hated it and me.
My last day (using), I worked 12 hours and came home to the cops opening the door for me. I remember his words, "Shireda, we've been waiting for you." I was taken to jail. My daughter who was sick with Lupus was having a flare up. I woke up after about three days. It hit me. It hit me that my child could die while I was in jail. I didn't know anything about what my son was doing. Feeling I was bankrupt, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I had ALL I could take.
I cried for days and days. There was no treatment in there. I started talking to a Chaplin and cried and talked and cried and talked. I admitted that I was an addict. I had never done that before. (The Judge) said his conscience would not allow him to find me guilty. I stood there in shock.
The Chaplin asked me did I really know what happened. I said, "I'm going home. I'm going home." He said, "You prayed for a miracle. You asked for a miracle. You've got that miracle. What are you going to do with it?" I thought about that. He said, "If you go home you might never ever get this chance again. If you go home with me and my wife you can call somebody that does not live in your area to come get you." And I did. That's been over ten years now.
Today I work for alcohol and drug services in the jail. I was destined to be there. I'm not a burden on this community. I'm not running in and out of the emergency rooms, creating bills that I cannot and did not pay. I'm not going to pharmacies begging for antibiotics because my arm is swolen because of an infection and I have Lupus. I'm not a threat to society. I obey laws. I pay taxes.
Today, I give back.
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