FOLEY, Alabama — For recovering addicts the battle for recovery is often a long and winding road that will last the rest of their lives.

“There is no question that using drugs alters the chemical makeup of the brain which alters the way the mind works,” said Orville W. Johnson Jr., owner of Next Chapter Counseling in Foley. “For recovering addicts it is a constant struggle for stability and many addicts battle depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, among others.”

Statistics show that about 50 percent of recovering addicts also suffer from other mental disorders, said Johnson. For those in residential areas, that number can be as high as 70 percent, and for teenagers it can get as high as 90 percent.

The two main courses of treatment are religion-based and 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (Narconon).

“Both courses recognize that there is a higher power in control and that we must give in to that higher power in order for there to be recovery,” Johnson said. “Both courses also recognize that recovery is a lifelong process.”

Johnson served as a law enforcement officer and a minister before returning to school to receive a master’s in professional counseling. Currently he holds an associate’s license in professional counseling and served as a counselor in a clinical setting before opening his private practice in Foley last year.

One such faith-based program that also relies on the 12-step process is The Refuge for Women, located east of Robertsdale. The Christian-based group home provides a holistic approach to recovery in a rural setting.

“We provide a family-like setting that focuses on providing a support system for women in recovery,” said Refuge Executive Director Nancy Robertson.

For graduates of the program, like Jennifer, recovery programs like The Refuge provide a life-saving service.

“I don’t think they know what this has meant for me,” said Jennifer. “How do you properly say thank you to someone who literally saved your life.”

Jennifer’s story

For Jennifer, who is now 39, her battle with drug and alcohol addiction began at the age of 11, following the divorce of her parents.

“In order to deal with the trauma, I clung to my brother, who was six years older than me,” she said. “When he began to hang out with a lot of shady characters, I began to consider them my friends too.”

First, they introduced her to alcohol, then the drugs gradually became stronger. Also, hanging out with an older crowd, she became exposed to more mature decisions for her age.

“Let’s just say I grew up faster than I would have under other circumstances,” she said.

By the time she was 17, she found herself alone and pregnant. The situation she found herself in sobered her up, for a while.

“I stopped drinking and drugging, got my GED to finish high school and started college,” she said.

But the added stress that came with college exams and exposure to college life took its toll and she soon found herself back in the drug scene.

“When you’re young you just don’t think about the consequences of your actions,” she said. “You feel like you’re ’10 feet tall and bullet proof.’”

She began experimenting with whatever drug she could get her hands on, cocaine, methamphetamine, Ecstasy, heroin, crack cocaine. You name it, she tried it.

“I had long since decided that alcohol just wasn’t enough for me,” she said. “I was putting whatever garbage I could find to put into my body, so that I wouldn’t have to live with myself.”

She fell into a pattern of rehab and relapse. She also fell into a pattern of going from one relationship to the next, oftentimes relationships where drugs were readily available, oftentimes relationships that were abusive.

“You name it, I experienced it,” she said.

She would go through periods where she would black out for hours, even days at a time.

“I would wake up in the hood somewhere and not know where I was,” she said. “It was a scary time.”

One time, she says, she woke up on a couch, went to get up and fell right to the floor writhing in pain. Her ankle was broken and had no idea how she had done it.

She doesn’t know how many times she overdosed. She also tried, and of course failed, suicide multiple times.

“I know now that it was only by the grace of God that I am still here,” she said.

Eventually, she said, she would see a psychologist who diagnosed her with bi-polar disorder. She also suffered from acute anxiety.

“But, of course, I decided I could self-medicate,” she said, “and of course, I talked my way into getting prescribed the highest dosage possible.”

She was prescribed Adderall for her anxieties, but couldn’t sleep, so she chased it with Xanax to help her sleep. As a result, after nearly 20 years of being addicted to illegal drugs, for the first time she became addicted to prescription drugs instead.

Through it all, she said, she lost connection with her family and friends. Most importantly, she said, she lost connection with her daughter, who was growing up with family in Missouri.

Eventually, Jennifer would come to live with her father in Alabama.

“He was former military, so he thought he could whip me into shape,” she said. “I don’t think he or anybody else realized how far gone I was.”

Finding refuge at The Refuge

It would eventually take two DUIs to bring Jennifer around to getting the help she needed, she said.

“The first time I was arrested, I was so high, that I thought the officer was joking when he stopped me,” she said. “I drove for miles with the officer behind me. I called my mom. ‘There’s a police officer behind me trying to stop somebody. I’m just going to pull over and let him pass.’”

When the officer came up and asked her to step out of the car, she said, she wouldn’t budge, still convinced that he was not there for her. They practically had to drag her out of the car.

After the first DUI, she said, she actually called The Refuge seeking help.

“I tried to act like it wasn’t for me,” she said. “I asked questions like I was just trying to get information for a friend.”

Nancy Robertson says she knew what she was dealing with.

“When they come to us, it’s usually not pretty,” she said. “They will try to lie, cheat, steal, anything to get drugs. We’ve seen just about everything. We try to provide a loving, nurturing environment for them and sometimes that means tough love.”

Formerly “Saving Grace Home for Women,” the 27-acre facility, located in the Elsanor Community east of Robertsdale, was built on land donated by the Snook Foundation. After closing in May of 2014 the facility reopened in June of the same year with a new name and a completely revamped program, developed by Robertson and Verlee Young, a licensed clinical social worker.

The Refuge is a non-profit, 10-bed, 90-day residential recovery program for adult women suffering from alcohol and drug dependency. Depending on the individual’s needs, Robertson said, the program can extend from 30 to 180 days.

“My first thought was that 90 days was a long time,” Jennifer said. “I had been through several programs that were a week or two and I was back out on the street. I didn’t know how it was going to work.”

The Christian-based program works with several 12-step programs to provide counseling. The program also includes exercise programs, nutrition classes, help with daily living skills, cooking, garden, health and wellness, and Bible class. The program has also recently added music therapy and equine therapy programs, Robertson said.

“We never force them to do anything, but everything is available to them,” Robertson said.

Young now serves as a clinical supervisor for the program, which now offers a hands-on teaching program, partnered with the University of South Alabama, University of West Florida and Liberty University, with plans to include Springhill College students in the near future.

The Refuge has also recently hired Connie Plemmons -- who has worked with Catholic Social Services and Family Promise of Baldwin County -- as director of operations.

Jennifer said she was contemplating going into the program voluntarily when fate intervened, in the form of a tree.

Her second DUI came after she wrapped her car around a tree late one night after a binge.

“I basically died,” she said. “It’s truly a miracle that I am here, sober and talking to you today.”

For Robertson and Young, the ultimate goal of the Refuge is to return the women to as normal a life as possible.

“Our primary goal is to treat addiction,” Robertson said. “Once we take care of the addiction, then it becomes the goal to help women return to a life of responsibility. Our ultimate goal is saving lives.”

When they are ready, Robertson said, the program helps their residents obtain jobs. In addition, the program offers a cottage industry, selling Sea Gel candles using local sand and sea shells from Gulf beaches. The program is also looking to expand to provide other cottage industry programs, Robertson said.

While nothing is perfect, The Refuge can count Jennifer among many success stories. She is now four months sober and learning to live life.

“The biggest obstacle I had to overcome is to learn to love myself,” she said.

It has been a slow process, she said, but she has been gradually rebuilding relationships, with her parents and with her daughter, who is now 22 and starting a life of her own.

When the Refuge hosts a fundraiser fashion show from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 19 at the Foley Civic Center, Jennifer will be one of the models walking the runway.

“I feel like a rock star and they made it happen,” she said. “For that I am eternally grateful.”