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YOUNG & SOBER
Amanda was born into trouble. Her mother was a drug addict, her father an alcoholic. Raised on and off by her grandmother, she moved frequently and became accustomed to chaos.
At 11 she tried alcohol and marijuana. "I knew something was wrong, but I grew up with addiction all around me. It seemed like the nor-mal thing. Drinking, smoking pot, ecstacy, LSD—it opened up a social world to me."
Amanda felt getting high was her ticket to being happy.
But the fun wouldn't last. Amanda tried crack cocaine at 14 and was soon expelled from school for fighting and using drugs.
At 15, Amanda was homeless, suicidal, and crashing with friends in Ypsilanti. Her life was a daily struggle to obtain and use drugs—and to simply survive.
"I wasn't a bad kid, but addiction caught up with me and I couldn't stop," says Amanda. "I was too ashamed and guilty to call my dad or get help."
Eventually, Amanda bounced from youth shelters to treatment—and developed an ongoing relationship with juvenile court authorities. She had very little success staying clean.
"When I was in those places I did well, but when I got out I was drunk or high again. I wondered if I would ever get better."
Just weeks after her 17th birthday, Amanda arrived at Dawn Farm and began her journey into recovery.
"I did not want to be there, but I knew I had to stay," Amanda remembers.
Her life began again.
"At the Farm they taught me how to stay sober, but also how to live, how to be honest and communicate with people." Amanda em-braced her new way of life, obtained her GED and got ready for the real world. "I had lots of dreams—but getting clean and sober helped to make them a reality."
After four months on the Farm, Amanda moved into the transitional apartments. She found a job, paid her bills and stayed active in 12-step groups.
"I was really scared of people, but the Farm made me reach out—and today I have so many friends." A manager at a local store, Amanda is now a full-time college student. She thinks she might want to be a social worker.
Sober two years, Amanda now relishes the chance to share her experience of hope with other struggling young women.
"A young girl recently called me from the Farm, wanting to leave. She was scared, and thought getting high would make her pain go away. I told her the truth—stay, and you can have a life as good as mine."
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