Shelonda

“Life before Meta House was horrible. I was lost, hungry, homeless and pregnant with a desire to get clean and stay clean.”

Shelonda’s childhood was lonely. She had to grow-up fast and be responsible for herself at an early age. Shelonda lived with friends and family members when she was young because her dad was in prison and her mom was often not around. She started using marijuana and alcohol in middle school. Her peers were using and the family and friends that she stayed with were also using. She dropped out of high school in the 10th grade.

At age 22, she was introduced to cocaine by her mother. The next morning, her mother and her money were gone, leaving a cocaine addiction in their place. She thought she was functional, but she lost a lot of good jobs because she would spend all her money on drugs and wouldn’t have any left to get to work. Over the next several years, Shelonda would have three children and lose each of them to her substance addiction.

In 2012, she came to Meta House, a women’s substance abuse treatment program in Milwaukee. She was pregnant with her fourth child. She stayed in Residential treatment for six months. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, her first to be born without drugs in her system. After Residential treatment, she transitioned to Outpatient treatment and lived in Meta House transitional living apartments with her daughter. She appreciated the supportive, sober environment. After more than two years of treatment, Shelonda graduated from Meta House. Today, she has a job that she enjoys and she says of herself, I’m a “responsible, loving mom and an independent, hard-working young lady.”