'My life is meaningful': Day One helps woman achieve sobriety and stability
This client success story was originally published as part of Oakland Family Services’ 2019-2020 Annual Report. To read the full annual report, click here.
When Barbara’s children were young, she drank alcohol so much and so often that she taught her 10-year-old daughter how to drive down a one-way street so they could get home safely.
For years, she barely stayed anywhere long enough to call home. Landlords kicked her out after she spent all of her rent money on alcohol. She can’t remember how many times she packed up and moved with her four children. At one point, she and her kids were living in her car or staying in rundown motels after she fled from an abusive relationship.
Barbara eventually got a job as a cook and became what she describes as a “functioning alcoholic.” For 25 years, she kept that job all while drinking heavily daily and caring for her paraplegic son, who was hit by a car when he was 2 years old.
The 60-year-old Pontiac woman’s life, though, started to spin out of control after her mother died in 2019 and she was stuck at home following knee surgery. Unable to work and with nothing to do, Barbara began to drink even more as she grieved the loss of her mother. She got to a point where she was drinking three 40 packs of beer daily.
“I would wake up at 7 a.m. and the first thing I had was a beer,” said Barbara, who grew up in California and moved to Michigan in 1994 with her children. “My grandbaby came to me when he was 4 years old and handed me a beer. I said, ‘What’s this for?’ and he said, ‘I want you to get up, Granny.’ I told myself I would quit but then I bought some more beer.”
About two months after having knee surgery, Barbara attempted suicide. She was in rehab for three days but had to leave because her insurance wouldn’t cover the cost. Within a week, she began treatment at Day One.
“I knew I needed help,” she said. “I was 59. It was either get help or die.”
Day One is Oakland Family Services’ behavioral health line of services, which provides treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. Barbara received intensive outpatient treatment and continues to attend therapy sessions. This therapy has also helped her deal with anxiety and sexual abuse she experienced as a child.
“Now after being in Day One, my life is meaningful. I have something to live for, and I know I am a beautiful person inside and out.”
"My therapist Amy brings a lot out in you even when you don’t want to talk,” she said. “She is so easy to talk to. It’s nice to know I’m not by myself. I don’t feel like people are looking down on me at Day One. I have been to clinics and felt like people were looking down on me, and I had low self-esteem. Amy helped me bring it up."
Barbara also participated in the Day One women’s empowerment group. The group helped her open up and bond with other women who shared similar experiences.
In September 2020, Barbara celebrated one year of being sober. For the first time in her life, she has lived in the same house for five years with furniture she purchased, and all her bills paid. Her strength and determination was recognized Aug. 17 by Oakland County Health Network, which honored her with the My Life award.
Barbara said she couldn’t have done it without the help of Day One.
“If I hadn’t gone to Day One, I probably would be dead,” she said. "Now that I have been through therapy, I’m not only opening up, but I’m smiling, I’m talking, and I’d like to become a counselor. I would like to try to help somebody else going through this.
“Before coming to Day One, I felt like my life was out of control, and I didn’t care about anything. I felt my life was doomed, and I didn’t have to worry about it. Now after being in Day One, my life is meaningful. I have something to live for, and I know I am a beautiful person inside and out.”
If you are struggling with substance use disorder, Day One can help. Learn more at dayone.oaklandfamilyservices.org or by calling (248) 858-7766.
