When I was only 13, I started using drugs in the bars I was going to, first as a client, then as an employee. I would drink a lot of alcohol (starting in the morning and continuing well into the night) and take speed. That lasted ten years. Then I became pregnant with my daughter and started using cocaine. I eventually lost custody of my daughter. That\u2019s when I drifted into crack. For three years, I made my partner, my daughter and my family go through so much. I was ridden with feelings of guilt, which I tried to forget by using more drugs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"Being](\"https:\/\/portage.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/drugs-1276787__340-300x200.jpg\")
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The director of the Youth Protection Services came into my life and referred me to Portage when I was pregnant with my second child. I was drinking a lot, would often fight with my partner, and the police would show up regularly at our house<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The director of the Youth Protection Services came into my life and referred me to Portage when I was pregnant with my second child. I was drinking a lot, would often fight with my partner, and the police would show up regularly at our house.<\/p>\n I felt at ease, because it was my second time being admitted to the program. During my first stay at Portage, I had my daughter with me, but this time around I was pregnant and without her. It was hard for me to be around the other mothers who had their children with them. I was happy to see the same staff again but I cried a lot (read Counsellor at Portage: Belonging to a Therapeutic Community)<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been at Portage for seven months now and I\u2019ve managed to tackle my guilt issues. I can now talk about them. I forgave myself even though it still gets to me when I think about what I\u2019ve put my children through. I worked a lot on my impulsivity, which led me to make bad decisions. I\u2019m now 100% there for my son Noah and I know that I will not repeat the same mistakes with my daughter. I\u2019m learning to better communicate, to be more assertive, to be honest and to not be afraid of other people\u2019s judgement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a mother, I want to be a role model and a woman my children can rely on. I would like to have my own apartment, complete my studies and have a profession. I want to be what I wasn\u2019t before: a good citizen.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a mother, I want to be a role model and a woman my children can rely on. I would like to have my own apartment, complete my studies and have a profession. I want to be what I wasn\u2019t before: a good citizen.<\/p>\n I would be having the same life as before, lost without my children. Portage saved my life. I feel self-confident, and I feel stronger. I found my values, I\u2019m positive and motivated to continue on the wonderful path I\u2019m on today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amelya, Resident in Portage\u2019s Mother & Child program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before Portage (How I started taking drugs\/alcohol and why) When I was only 13, I started using drugs in the bars I was going to, first as a client, then as an employee. I would drink a lot of alcohol (starting in the morning and continuing well into the night) and take speed. That… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[153,364],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-testimonial"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44484,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606\/revisions\/44484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What led me to call Portage or how I was referred<\/strong><\/h5>\n
My first days at Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n
How long I\u2019ve been at Portage and what has changed<\/strong><\/h5>\n
![\"Being](\"https:\/\/portage.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mother-429158_960_720-300x198.jpg\")
\nHow I see the future after completing the program<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Finally, where I think I would be without Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n