Pubdate: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 Source: Huntsville Times (AL) Copyright: 2002 The Huntsville Times Contact: http://www.htimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730 Author: Pat Newcomb RECOVERY PROGRAM CELEBRATES ABILITY TO REROUTE LIVES WRECKED BY DRUG USE The Pathfinder Raises Funds To Create Success Stories Like Carol's For More Residents When Carol entered a detoxification clinic 2 years ago, she was almost dead. Drug and alcohol abuse had sent her blood pressure spiraling down to 77 over 48. She had lost her children, her job and her home. On Sunday, she was celebrating her sobriety and the organization she says helped save her life. "They taught me how to live," says Carol, 43, who asked that her last name not be used. She and her 11-year-old daughter were among about 100 attending a banquet and silent auction to benefit The Pathfinder, a residential addiction recovery program in Huntsville. The event, which also honored volunteers and the hard work of current and former clients, was held at First United Methodist Church. For four months, from December 1999 until April 2000, Carol lived at Stepping Stones, the Pathfinder's program for women. She was 39 and had started drinking and smoking marijuana 20 years earlier. She was a full-blown narcotics addict when she hit bottom. Carol is one of 1,100 clients The Pathfinder has served since it opened 26 years ago, said Paul Bakke, the program's executive director. It began as an alcohol dependency treatment program for men, accepting its first client in September 1976. The agency expanded to include drug treatment The Pathfinder benefit raises more than $5,000, honors volunteers Program Continued from page B1 several years later and added the women's program in 1995. The Pathfinder has now bought a house next door to its Ivy Avenue location in southwest Huntsville, so it can have more space to treat women, said Bakke. The program has six beds for women and continually has a waiting list. The new home, with five more beds, should open within a few weeks, said Bakke. The Pathfinder can house up to 26 men. Bakke also said he hopes to open a third home this summer at 3116 Ivy Ave. for men who have completed the minimum 90-day program but who have requested a transition period before leaving The Pathfinder. In the future, Bakke said, he wants to add a program in which women could keep their children with them as they go through recovery. They could learn how to manage the stress of raising children while recovering. The face of an addict Carol might not fit some people's conception of a drug addict. She's a college graduate. She was raised in a loving home with two parents who didn't abuse alcohol or drugs. "I had good parents, but I chose to go the wrong way," she said. It took nearly dying to finally turn her around. "That's what drugs and alcohol does for you," she said. "It will rob you of all (things) very quickly." Back in 1999, with no job and no insurance, Carol entered a state-supported detoxication facility. She was there for a month when the counselors suggested she enter a halfway house program. That's how she ended up at The Pathfinder's Stepping Stones. There, she got tough love and the kind of structure she needed to begin her recovery, said Carol, who is from Scottsboro. Her two children were in her aunt's temporary custody while she was going through treatment. After more than six months, the children moved back in with her. Since she began her recovery, Carol has remarried. Her husband is also a recovering addict, and both attend weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Her husband has a good job, Carol said, allowing her to stay home with her children, who are active in sports, school and church. "It's one of God's gifts for doing the right thing," she said. The Pathfinder operates on money from the United Way and the state Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and from donations from businesses and local churches and civic organizations. Sunday's fund-raiser, which included music by local jazz musician Ken Watters and his group, brought in more than $5,000, said Bakke. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth