Janice Hollstein ~ Outside a Crack House, She Saw the Light

Janice Hollstein calls it her Spiritual Awakening. Her opiate addiction had left her living in a van with her three kids in 2005. Having taxied a friend to a crack house for cash, she was arrested as part of a sting. Police officers asked where to leave the children while she went to the police station—she could have mentioned her mother. Instead, she asked them to call Children Services.

“The next day I went to see Children Services. For the first time in my life I was totally honest. I said I needed help.”

That was April 29, 2005, and she has been clean ever since. While family members took care of the children, Ms. Hollstein spent 54 days at COMPASS, an addiction services agency, then moved on to transitional housing for six months. For part of that time she was required to appear weekly in Lucas County’s Drug Court, she said.

When she joined NPI Fresh Start in June 2006, she got her children back. Situated in South Toledo, the program offers special services to homeless single mothers who struggle with chronic addiction and/or mental illness.

“She was ready to move further along in her recovery and with her housing,” NPI Recovery Specialist Charletta Slaughter said. “Her support system was really strong, and they advocated very well for her.”

Ms. Hollstein also was ready to accept the rules, such as a curfew and ongoing ban on overnight visitors.

“One of the earliest things you need is accountability, whether it’s to your sponsor, a program, whatever,” Ms. Hollstein said. “The program is into accountability... Once you get into recovery you’ve got to be an open book.”

The Toledo native began drinking at 13. At 24 her then husband introduced her to the painkiller Percocet.

“It’s like every other addict I’ve ever talked to. It made me feel confident, happy, relaxed… All my life I’d felt out of the box, different. It made me feel a part of things.”

For 14 years she took pills, often wishing she could quit.

“I would try to kick it on my own. I would take a week off work. The desire was there… My older children were with me through the disease, and they suffered because of it. They were with me through recovery too,” she said.

Today she looks forward to a bright future. A natural at sharing her story, she has spoken to groups of consumers at COMPASS and Substance Abuse Services, Inc. (SASI). She also was interviewed by WTOL-TV Channel 11 about the destructive impact of drugs on people’s lives. She plans to begin classes at the University of Toledo soon.

“I want to be active in the recovery community,” she said. “There are a lot of addicts out there who need help.”

For more information about Fresh Start or other NPI programs, please call 419-473-2604, ext. 100.