Meet Vanessa…
We take great pride in our Lifers and their individual stories and successes. That being said, we are so proud of one of our Lifers, Vanessa.
Vanessa completed her intake with our Motherhood case manager, Tauchanna, in January. She was in a bad spot and had a lot going on. She was on heroin and her family relationships were falling apart – her circumstances were more than concerning. Tauchanna told her that she needed inpatient therapy right away; and she followed up on that right away. She said she would go and ended up following through on her promise.
Vanessa did exactly what she needed to do to successfully complete her time in therapy and took her treatment seriously. During her time in in therapy, she reconnected with some of her family and then moved to Northern Virginia to live with her sister and nephew.
In April, Vanessa was finally able to see her mom, but could not hug her or have any other contact due to COVID. She spoke about how difficult it was because she had not seen her mother in a while, due to her addiction. This has changed though, because she posted a beautiful photo with her arms around her mom on Facebook for Mother’s Day. Today, Vanessa looks nothing like she did when she came in for intake, and her growth is reflected by that. Although she has moved, she stays connected and in regular contact with Tauchanna.
Vanessa had a job interview lasy month and was really nervous about her background. Therefore, she was connected with Sydney, our Quick Start to Employment Manager to help prepare her for the process. With Sydney’s help and her own drive, Vanessa secured a job as a barista! She actually got the job on May 20th, which also happened to be her 100th day of being clean. While Vanessa is experiencing some anxiety from being around people again and the fast paced environment, we are certain that she will thrive and she has already proven herself to be strong willed enough to persevere and thrive.
REAL LIFE and Tauchanna specifically wanted to highlight Vanessa’s success and accomplishments and let her know how proud we all are of her. She was in awful shape when she came in and now, “she looks like a blossoming butterfly!” She followed through with the promise of treatment she made, and her family relationships are being restored, she is doing great.
We are so proud of you, Vanessa!