Success Stories: Carolann

"At one point in my life I was living under a bush in a Providence playground barely surviving and battling a 32-year addiction.  Today my life is rewarding and fulfilling because the people at The Providence Center never gave up on me.  They always treated me with respect and helped me to regain my family, my soul, and my life."

Five years ago, Carolann was homeless and living under a bush in a playground.  She was drinking, using drugs and had abandoned her family.  She had cheated death many times.  She was afraid, alone, desperate and suicidal when she decided to walk into The Providence Center and ask for help.

At The Providence Center, Carolann learned that substance abuse was only part of her problem.  She also needed to confront major depression, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She accepted the mental health diagnoses, but refused to believe she was an addict.  It was only to appease her family and get off the cold winter streets that she decided to enter The Providence Center's Short-term Substance Abuse Residential Treatment Program.

With the help of the staff at The Providence Center, Carolann finally took her first step on the path to recovery and admitted she was an addict.  She moved into a sober house and, eventually, into her own apartment.  She attended support groups and worked with specialists from The Providence Center's Employment and Education Services to enroll in college.

Today, Carolann is a successful single mother of three and, as a board member of the National Alliance for Housing and Urban Development Tenants, has testified before Congress in support of affordable housing. She is also a dean's list scholar, a member of an international honor society for psychology students, recipient of the Psi Beta Carol Tracy Community Service Award, and a board member of the Providence In-town Churches Association. 

This once homeless woman, struggling with mental illness and in denial of her addictions, followed the rocky path to recovery with dignity, earning the respect and admiration of everyone she met along the way.