At 33 years of age, Alicia is focusing on getting her life back on track. Over the last several years, she has struggled with substance abuse issues, an abusive former partner, and the loss of custody of her two children, Justin and Kaylynn.
Losing custody of her children sent Alicia spiraling out of control. She began using drugs heavily; however, she never lost sight of her goal to get her children back. So after a few months, she entered her first treatment program. Unfortunately, she relapsed shortly after. She tried again several times with different programs, but continued to relapse. Finally, about a year and a half ago, Alicia found a program that worked for her and she stuck with it. She has been clean and sober since.
Alycia regained custody of Justin, age 7, last April. Shortly afterward,
she learned that she was going to need to find new housing. She had nowhere to go. That’s when she learned about Multi-Service Center. She met with one of MSC’s housing case managers who was able to get her into MSC’s family shelter. She stayed there for several months until a unit at one of MSC’s affordable permanent housing properties became available last Fall. She moved in with Justin, and the two of them have begun their path to stability.
Alicia is close to regaining custody of Kaylynn, age 4, and looks forward to her visits with her. Alicia also has a good relationship with Kaylynn’s father, and although they were not good together as romantic partners, they are great friends and co-parents. Alicia wishes she could also have this type of co-parenting relationship with Justin’s father; however, she does not see that happening due to the nature of their past relationship and Justin’s feelings towards his father.
Clear boundaries are one of the reasons behind Alicia’s success. She knows that her sobriety is vital for the health and safety of her children, so she only maintains relationships with friends and family who are clean and sober, and who help create a healthy environment for her and her children.
“It meant the world to me when I got involved with MSC. My life turned around 100% from struggling to a place where I can move forward,” shared Alicia.
Alicia is currently unable to work because she needs to care for Justin who has been exhibiting behavioral issues. She plans on accessing other services at MSC including energy
assistance and the food bank to make sure her family’s needs are met until she can return to work. Eventually, she wants to be able to help advocate and counsel parents who are in a similar situation to help them reunite their families.
