November 25, 2007
Jennifer Durning,
29, doesn't hesitate when she says that she was addicted to drugs and
alcohol for years. She lived on the street, not knowing where she and her
children would sleep at night. Finally, when the court ordered her to seek
changes in her life, she found Steps To Freedom.
With three of her
five children in tow, (Sabrina, 12, Anthony, 10, and Jennica, 2,) Durning
was accepted into the sober-living facility a little more than a year ago
and started making drastic changes in her life. (Children Sonny, 6, and
Destiny, 4, live with their father.) Having dropped out of her "old life,"
she attends church and Bible studies regularly, helps her children with
their homework and has the presence of mind to talk to them about their
future, things she didn't do much of before coming to the program.
Her two oldest
children, Sabrina and Anthony, are happy and excited to see good things
happening with their Mom, and for them.
They don't move
around a lot, they've been able to go to the same school and make friends,
and life in general is more stable. Sabrina is on the honor roll this
semester and Anthony is involved in sports. Jennica is just plain happy,
exactly how a 2-year old child should be.
Durning now has
plans for her life and has set goals. She'll start school soon and hopes
to work for Child Protective Services one day when she's completed the
necessary courses. It's important to her, now that she's had a chance to
live a different life, for all children to have a safe place to live, and
a happy environment. Also, she has one other very important goal at the
moment, trying to get her mother, who has been addicted to heroin for many
years, into treatment so that she, too, can see what it's like to lead a
happy life.
Steps to Freedom has
helped Durning get on the right path. The facility requires its clients to
attend church services, Bible study and Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics
Anonymous meetings each week.
Resident program
director Janel Tyson says Steps To Freedom offers a homelike, spiritual
atmosphere with the goal of producing sober, productive, law-abiding
citizens at the end of treatment, which can last from six months to two
years, depending on the individual's needs. The mission is to have clients
go beyond simply being clean and sober to also be spiritually, physically,
mentally and emotionally ready to handle life on their own by the time
they leave.
Pastor Mike Weaver
of Northside Assembly of God, 2400 N. Olive Ave., Turlock, provides
spiritual guidance for the four houses and one small apartment complex
that, at the moment, house 37 women and their 15 children. There's a
separate home for men. The homes are not county or federally funded and
rely solely on donations and contributions from the community and private
sector.
