Molly came from “a good family,” she says, and has a supportive lifelong relationship with her loving mother. Yet, she had a lot of anger issues when she was growing up, a problem exacerbated by a strict disciplinarian father and the slow pace of life in a small Poconos town. When she was 14, her friends started experimenting with drugs. She did, too.
“I always thought that drugs were bad and was like, ‘Don’t use them. They’re horrible,’” recalls Molly, now 37. “But when I used them, I laughed and had fun. From there, it became ‘Well, that drug was fun. Let me try a different drug.’”
When she used, Molly says, she “felt confident. I had an almost unstoppable feeling. And I wanted to chase that feeling.”
Fast forward to 2013. After trying cocaine, Oxycontin, Percocet, and other addictive substances, Molly was using heroin and living on the streets of Kensington with her wife. Prevention Point quickly became part of their lives, a place where they could access medical services and sterile HIV prevention tools, have meals, and get water and coffee.
The couple also became regulars at PPP’s Women’s Night events. One night, Molly remembers, PPP handed out snow boots and winter jackets for everybody. It was her wife’s birthday, and the staff celebrated it.
“Things like that made us feel human again,” Molly says.
Molly and her wife turned to PPP’s shelter and recovery programs about a year ago. The couple now has a roof over their heads at Philly Home at Girard, a low barrier safe-haven shelter operated in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, where they also utilize case management and medical services. They’re “learning to be human again,” Molly says. She’s studying to become a Certified Recovery Specialist, and expects to complete her program in March.
“A big goal of mine is to work in the recovery field and give back what was given to me,” Molly says. “I would like to tell other people experiencing addiction that, as long as you don’t give up on yourself, you have a chance. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of hope.”
Molly has high praise for PPP’s staff and services, noting that it took time for her to trust the organization and its people. She previously couldn’t imagine such an expansive, supportive program.
“They’re helping us, making connections for us, and never judging, never looking down on us. They’re just there to help,” she says. “I truly believed that gave us a little push to do the right thing. It saved my life.”