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Crossroads provides a place for women and their families to recover from drug and alcohol abuse
September 7, 2006 article written by Annie Ellis, staff writer at the Biddeford Saco Old Orchard Beach Courier
One organization mentioned in the discussions of Biddeford Drug and Alcohol Abuse Recovery coalition meetings was Crossroads for Women, Inc. The drug and alcohol rehabilitation entity is the only gender-specific center in Maine for substance abuse treatment, and one of few in the nation specifically geared towards women and their children.
While located in Portland and Windham, the center draws women from all over Maine and New England due to its unique services. Crossroads treats women with drug and alcohol addictions, ages 18 and older. They treat five to six hundred women a year.
Barbara Dacri, executive director for Crossroads, said that the program enables women to seek treatment without losing the opportunity to care for their children.
“When women are put in a situation to choose between themselves and their children, they’ll often choose their children, and the substance abuse will continue to avoid the stigma that goes along with seeking treatment,� said Dacri.
According to Dacri, patients are often referred by themselves, their families, doctors, probations officers, or by another facility.
Crossroads provides a continuum of care. When women arrive for an initial evaluation, they are assessed to see what level of care is appropriate. Started in a farmhouse in Windham in 1974 offering primarily residential treatment, Crossroads now offers four levels of care. There is outpatient therapy and intensive outpatient therapy, which is a three to five day treatment program. There is also a short-term residential program in Windham where women stay four to six weeks with limited space to house children. That facility is equipped with a licensed daycare, or children may attend the Windham school system. The other option is a halfway house in Portland.
As women experience success at certain stages of treatment, they move through various levels.
“We continue to work with people as their needs change,� said Dacri.
Dacri said treatment is a combination of individual, group, and milieu therapy. Oftentimes, drugs and alcohol are just a part of the problem. Many of the women have histories of traumatic events and physical and sexual abuse. Dacri added that one of the biggest parts of treatment is fostering communication with other women.
“We immerse them in an environment of healthy relationships,� she said. “They learn about their addiction, and learn skills about their addiction, and learn to relate to other people. They often come from dysfunctional relationships, and they tend to replicate those in their lives.�
Dacri cited unhealthy upbringings, parental drug and alcohol abuse, and other familial issues as being a root of the problem.
“It is clearly a multi-generational issue,� said Dacri, “and one of the things we need to do through treatment is break that cycle.�
According Dacri, about 65 percent of the women who enter their program complete the treatment.
Darcy Boulton is director of administrative services at Crossroads. However, her point of view is unique in that she was treated for alcoholism at the center. Fifteen years clean, Boulton remembers vividly the first day she walked through the door of the treatment center.
Boulton entered treatment when her family intervened with a facilitator.
“The only thing I felt walking into the intervention was an incredible amount of relief. I was relieved that I could start a process that could change my whole life,� said Boulton.
Boulton remembers the experience as a time when she could be fully comfortable with the people around her, and experience a commonality with women who came from very different backgrounds.
“It wasn’t about a person’s addiction, or history, or socioeconomic background,� said Boulton, “It was the sameness. It’s a very powerful tool, knowing that someone can trust their peers. When I was going, I thought, ‘I can’t be away from my house for 28 days,’ but when I was leaving, I thought, ‘I’m don’t want to leave. I’m scared.�
Boulton remarked that it is a heroic effort for any woman not only to take the step to get treatment, but also to make the step back to face life and begin again with their family in a society that she claims doesn’t really help.
“There’s a lot more shame attached to it than there is with men, and people have it without recognizing it,� said Boulton. “If you think of a guy watching the Superbowl in a bar, he has a few too many, and is falling down a bit, everyone chuckles. Picture it as a woman. People wouldn’t find it funny. That stigma is engrained in society.�
Boulton said she feels lucky to be working with women who are trying to make the same step that she made, and it serves as a reminder to her what it was like to be in their situation.
“There was a time in treatment that I understood, and I felt very strongly that I was going to be okay,� said Boulton. “For me, it was being in Crossroads. “I wanted to change my life, and I was going to. I’ve never used again. It’s not been a struggle for me.�
Boulton said it is often very difficult working with women in a system that is working against them. Oftentimes they are told their children will be taken away if they don’t get help, and then their Medicare is taken away, making it impossible for them to get help.
“Every third person coming at you on the road is addicted to something. If people spent half as much money on treatment as they did throwing them in jail we’d be a whole lot better off,� said Boulton.
Boulton says when she was a resident she knew she would end up returning as an employee. Just six months after completing the program, she went back as an office manager. As Crossroads grew, so did her position. Now she is in charge of numerous aspects of the organization.
“Everybody needs recovery in their life, whether it’s from addiction, or recovery from life, it gives you a place to look at yourself, and make decisions about yourself,� said Boulton. “There’s nothing to be afraid of in the world. The boogieman isn’t there. It’s what you create. That’s what you have to pass on to other people. That’s why I work where I do. I look at my life before and I look at my life now, and what fun to be able to live my life now, but I’m so absolutely grateful that Crossroads was there at the time for me.
It’s an amazing place to work. It’s an amazing thing to watch people make that step through the door. Whether they succeed the first time or the fifth time, it takes an incredible amount of courage to make that step.�
Crossroads is a non-profit agency and accepts some insurance policies, including MaineCare. For more information, visit crossroadsforwomen.org.
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