Angel spent most of her childhood moving around. She was born in Petersburg but went to a total of twelve different schools growing up. Her parents weren’t together, but they were both addicts, so life was unpredictable and hectic early on. She bounced around houses between them and also her grandparents. By high school she was a drug addict. “I would disappear from my grandma’s house for weeks or months at a time because I was chasing my next high,” Angel recalls. She was able to get her GED and then she got married and had children. Her husband introduced her to harder drugs, and after he went to jail, her kids were adopted out. Once Angel went to jail, she told the prison officials that she wanted to join a program when she got out. She told them, “I’m sick of living this life. I’m done with it. I want something different.” Soon after, she entered REAL LIFE.
Her husband passed away from drug use last year. Her mother is still in active addiction and her father is currently incarcerated. She has one brother who is hoping to reconnect with at some point once she is able to prove her commitment to a drug-free life. She is currently a hostess at a breakfast restaurant, in addition to being a Peer House Leader at her REAL House. She is graduating next month and is hoping to go back to school to become a substance abuse counselor. Angel is hoping that her mother-in-law will bring her sons to her graduation; she is also hoping to be able to reconnect with her estranged daughters in the near future. Angel, you inspire us! Keep up the hard work!
