“It was a privilege to be in Meridian’s Women’s Center. It was there I learned how selfish and thoughtless I had been. After 30 days I got to see my daughter for the first time. That was when I fell in love with her all over again. Now I want to give back. I want to keep what I’ve got by giving back.”
“I was really hanging out with the wrong people. After Marky was born, I knew I needed to stop to simply take care of my child. I was able to move into a Meridian Women’s Center and feel I now have some direction in my life. I have less stress and I don’t worry about what tomorrow holds. This program is a miracle for this area.”
“I started hanging with the wrong kids. I thought they were cool and I wanted to fit in. When I got in trouble, I was assigned a probation officer and he told me about the Meridian Adolescent Center. I knew I wanted this. Here, I’m learning to avoid getting into bad situations. I’ve learned coping strategies. I’m going to focus on my family, my schoolwork. I want to make the honor roll again this year so I can play sports again.”
“PANDA Camp really changed my life. I saw for the first time that the stigma and stereotype that surrounds addiction is very different from the reality. My mission became to recruit kids into the program so they could also make a difference. My experience taught me to be sensitive to the family dynamics of a substance abuse situation. Everyone is impacted by this disease, not just the addict.”
“I’ve been at the Men’s Center for over a month now. They’ve taught me that I’m not a bad person trying to be good, but a sick person trying to get well.”
