Pubdate: Mon, 02 Oct 2006 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Gay Brock, Special Correspondent FORMER COCAINE ADDICT HELPS PARENTS RISE ABOVE STRUGGLES LIKE SHE ONCE FACED Belinda Knox compares her life to a carton of orange juice. To get the best out of it, she had to turn it upside down once or twice. "You know how all that good stuff sits at the bottom, and if you don't shake it up, it's useless. You can use it, but it doesn't taste that good," said Knox, 45. "That's how my life has been." Once homeless, cocaine addicted and isolated from her three children, Knox, who lives in Lauderhill, now helps other parents turn their lives around at the Jack and Jill Children's Center in Fort Lauderdale, a non-profit organization that provides child care and support for lower-income working families. Along with behavior analyst Jeanette Martin, Knox leads the same 10- week family strengthening program that she attended many years ago, speaking to parents about topics such as positive discipline, stress management and child development. "The parents really relate to her. She is so open and honest," Martin said. "She's been there, but she was able to change her pattern, her way of thinking and improve her relationship with her children." Knox said her children, now 16, 17 and 18, don't talk much about their early years. But they know their mother's message to struggling parents is rooted in her own experiences. Rising from life as a drug dealer in Clewiston to her current job as a social worker aide for the Broward County Elderly and Veterans Services Division, Knox has accumulated plenty of practical advice to give to others who are just beginning their journey. "I tell them, 'Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be ashamed of where you are, because you are not going to be in that place forever,'" she said. At first, Knox rejected offers of help. Though her children were in foster care, removed when her third baby was born "dirty" with cocaine, she cared only about her next high. One day Knox began to believe her children's caseworker, who insisted she could do better. In 1991, with the help of a rehabilitation center in Avon Park, she kicked the drug habit and began grabbing the lifelines thrown to her by government programs and halfway homes. She also began to pray. By the time she regained custody of her children in 1993, she was eager to learn all that she could at the Jack and Jill Center. "They didn't judge me; all they wanted to do was help me," she said. Knox continues moving forward. She has returned to school, pursuing a bachelor's degree in business at the University of Phoenix, an online college. She will apply that new knowledge to her position as CEO of Women 2 Women, a faith-based, non-profit organization focused on "empowering women of all ages and from all walks of life," Knox said. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine