Frank grew up in a suburban home where heavy drinking and fighting were part of his parents’ daily routine. As a result, their marriage disintegrated when Frank turned nine. He and his sisters remained with their mom, who managed to work a steady job despite continued alcohol abuse. She failed to see Frank following in her footsteps. By the time he turned 13, he was drinking and smoking marijuana on a daily basis and cutting school. By 14, he had moved to crack cocaine and inhalants as a way to escape and dull his pain. It wasn’t long before he tried heroin, and began a year-long pattern of stealing, defiance and erratic mood swings that eventually got him kicked out of the house. After that, his life was a string of drug abuse, arrests, overdoses and nights crashing with friends, homeless shelters or the hospital, only to return to the streets the next day. He had been found near death many times. Finally, after an arrest and his third stay in a detox center, he was referred to the Villa’s LIFE Program by a probation officer, who feared Frank was very close to becoming a sad statistic.
In the LIFE House, Frank entered into an intensive therapy program that not only addressed his dependency, but allowed him to take a hard look at the underlying mental health issues that triggered his substance abuse. A first painful step was admitting his dependency and accepting help. With a great deal of time, compassion and support, Frank opened up in therapy which revealed his clinical depression and enabled him to get appropriate mental health treatment and work through major issues like his mother’s dependency, school difficulties and his father’s abandonment. Attending community 12-step programs several times a day helped him build key recovery skills. Meanwhile, he attended family therapy, group therapy with other boys in LIFE, and received instruction to prepare for a return to community school and vocational training. For Frank, setbacks were inevitable, especially on periodic home visits where tensions ran high. But this time when he started over, he had support, a stronger will and renewed confidence that he could make it, with small steps each day.
Today, Frank is a 19-year-old recovering addict, clean and sober, living in his own apartment, supporting himself with a steady job at an auto repair shop. He and his mom often attend AA meetings together.
It is a life he never could have imagined for himself.
