Alcoholism & Women
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10 years ago, Rita Moore never felt so alone. She was depressed and her life was an endless circle revolving around drugs and alcohol, the two things that helped ease her pain, "I could go to a liquor store and buy a liter and it would last me that day. By the end of the night I was back at the liquor store buying another one."
Rita says after her mother died she hit rock bottom, but it was also then she realized she needed to make a change, "I just said, 'I gotta get my life together.'"
That's when Rita came here to participate in the Providence Center's Women's Day Program. This intensive substance abuse treatment program is for women who have nowhere else to turn. Tina Lapierre helps counsel women like Rita, "What we know is women need other women."
Tina says, when it comes to alcoholism and substance abuse, women often face unique social challenges. They often have families and face losing their children as a result of their problem and most don't seek help. "I think it's much more tolerable for a man to be an alcoholic or an addict versus a woman."
This outpatient program allows women to come for four hours a day, several days a week and offers free transportation and child care. The program consists of disease education as well as group therapy. Rita, who recently suffered a relapse, has returned to Women's Day. She says this time she has a better outlook on her life and her future, "I feel like I'm existing now. I'm living and I'm here."
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