Friday, November 18, 2011
The Complexity of Addiction
Addiction weighs a person down with manifold hard realities.
That was the case of a middle aged woman I will call Sue. Her multiple-year drug addiction brought several complex situations to her life: debt, unemployment, strained family relationships, poor health, and homelessness. At the end of her rope, Sue came to Wheeler’s Center for Women and Children and entered the Higher Ground Addiction Recovery Program in 2001.
The difficult issue of personal debt is approached at the Center in a Financial Management Class called Credit when Credit it Due. Through this multi-week class, taught by a retired banking professional, Sue was able to secure her credit report. She learned that several thousand dollars in medical bills had been reported as unpaid. These were fraudulent charges which Sue was able to have erased. Sue used the information she learned in class to get her financial situation rectified. She continued to pursue her recovery and graduate from the Higher Ground Program, moved on to find employment, pay off her outstanding debt, and open a checking account. Sue says that working through the financial issues “was the beginning of some wonderful things happening for me.”
Five years ago, due to her disciplined financial management, Sue was able to buy a house. She lives within her budget, pays her bills on time, is a valued employee, has reconciled with her family, and is active in her church. She has been sober for more than ten years.
The Credit when Credit is Due class has proved to be an instrument of change in the lives of many women who are facing the consequences of their addiction. Please keep these ladies in your prayers as they work toward sobriety.
Rick
That was the case of a middle aged woman I will call Sue. Her multiple-year drug addiction brought several complex situations to her life: debt, unemployment, strained family relationships, poor health, and homelessness. At the end of her rope, Sue came to Wheeler’s Center for Women and Children and entered the Higher Ground Addiction Recovery Program in 2001.
The difficult issue of personal debt is approached at the Center in a Financial Management Class called Credit when Credit it Due. Through this multi-week class, taught by a retired banking professional, Sue was able to secure her credit report. She learned that several thousand dollars in medical bills had been reported as unpaid. These were fraudulent charges which Sue was able to have erased. Sue used the information she learned in class to get her financial situation rectified. She continued to pursue her recovery and graduate from the Higher Ground Program, moved on to find employment, pay off her outstanding debt, and open a checking account. Sue says that working through the financial issues “was the beginning of some wonderful things happening for me.”
Five years ago, due to her disciplined financial management, Sue was able to buy a house. She lives within her budget, pays her bills on time, is a valued employee, has reconciled with her family, and is active in her church. She has been sober for more than ten years.
The Credit when Credit is Due class has proved to be an instrument of change in the lives of many women who are facing the consequences of their addiction. Please keep these ladies in your prayers as they work toward sobriety.
Rick
Labels: addiction consequences
