Success Spotlight

SOME's Success Spotlight presents actual letters and statements from clients in our programs and from volunteers and donors who tell us about their experiences at SOME. New letters appear here often so check back for uplifting testimony about how SOME strives to nourish, to support, and when need be, challenge. Names have been changed but the stories are real.

Chauntese has recently come off of more than two decades of drug addiction and is successfully rebuilding her life with SOME’s help. Chauntese, 38 years old, had been addicted to drugs for 23 years when she entered detox in early 2006. There, she learned about SOME. After making a commitment to turn her life around, Chauntese entered Kirwan House, SOME’s safehouse in Washington, where she started a difficult but rewarding journey to health.

“SOME has shown me that what I was doing was not living. After I saw what SOME has to offer, I knew that was where I needed to be,” she says. “SOME is the place to go. They help all aspects of your life—they make sure you’re eating well and are clothed; they take care of you totally.”

SOME has helped Chauntese plan her future and rebuild relationships, especially with her family. “I’ve been able to get back into the life of my family,” she says. “It’s been a fabulous turn around for me.”

That’s not to say it’s been easy as Chauntese has taken progressively larger steps to recovery. After a month at Kirwan House, 90 days in SOME’s intensive treatment program at Maya Angelou House, and now about to move on from SOME’s Harvest House to enter Single Room Occupancy (SRO) living, Chauntese admits that there have been hard times, and that the challenges will continue.

“I know that the hard work starts now while I’ll be living on my own. Leaving the other women in the program won’t be easy; I’ll have to stay around people who are recovering and I will have to focus more than ever on my recovery – it’s about me now.”

A former day laborer, Chauntese is currently enrolled in SOME’s Center for Employment Training (CET). There she is studying to become a medical administrative assistant and hopes one day to become a vocational nurse in order to give back to the community. According to Chauntese, she owes everything to SOME for supporting her through a very difficult transition.

“I can see how my life is changing because of SOME. SOME saw something in me I didn’t see and gave me a chance to know my life could be better. They’ve opened doors for me, made things possible.”