Article Source: The Positive Observer

Like many of the women who apply for PROTOTYPES’ services, April Wilson had nowhere else to turn for help. Pregnant, and a former IV-drug user, she was facing three years in state prison if she didn’t turn her life around.

Wilson couldn’t have known when she first arrived in 1988, that PROTOTYPES, an organization that helps women and children affected by substance abuse, mental illness and domestic violence, would not only give her the tools and courage to overcome daunting obstacles, but 22 years later she would still be there providing the same support she received to women and children who needed it the most. Today, she passionately serves as Director at the Pomona campus in Los Angeles, Calif., and tears up when she talks about the most fulfilling parts of the job.

"Working here is just so awesome," Wilson said of her role at PROTOTYPES. "Woman after woman, life after life that you get to see change - children being born, cycles of addiction being broken."

Since opening its doors in 1986, PROTOTYPES has provided comprehensive programs and services for women and children whose lives have been devastated by the affects of substance abuse, mental illness and domestic violence. Throughout treatment, the priority remains focused on strengthening family bonds, as troubled mothers are allowed to keep their children during the recovery process. This is a privilege that most similar programs will not allow, and according to Vel Linden, Clinical Manager at the Oxnard campus, plays a large role in the success rate for PROTOTYPES’ clients.

“As mother’s heal, children heal,” Linden said of the recovery process she observes daily with clients and their children. “Bonding takes place and you can visibly see it happening… they become more committed to their own recovery.”

Barbarella Rodgers is also a PROTOTYPES alum-turned staff who, like an estimated 40 percent of staff members, arrived broken, addicted to drugs and desperate for help. Less than four years later, she remains sober and supports herself and three children ages four, six and twelve. Extremely grateful for the role PROTOTYPES played in her life, Rodgers returned to take over the position of Parenting Center Educator at the Oxnard campus.

“I would be lost… or dead without them,” Rodgers pauses as her voice catches. “PROTOTYPES helped me conquer all my demons…and put a love in my heart to help people.”

At first, Rodgers feared entering treatment at PROTOTYPES because she knew the program was considered one of the hardest in the state of California. Upon beginning treatment, she encountered rigid rules, time-consuming meetings and therapy sessions that forced her to face the realities of a drug addiction that left her powerless and unable to care for her children.

Ultimately, she said it’s the caring staff who saved her and gave her the mother figure her life had been missing. Wilson echoed the statement, pointing out that the relationships formed with staff members often mean the difference between success and failure for PROTOTYPES’ clients.

Linden emphasized that many of the women are coming from generational addiction - with mothers who are often still addicted and/or incarcerated - and their relationships are often “difficult.” The goal, she said, is to give clients the tools to accept their mothers for who they are, while finding other mentors, or “surrogates” as role model mothers.

On average, the organization serves about 15,000 clients and their families each year, and this year, 21-year-old Kristina Rosales is one of them. She resides in the stately, historic home in Oxnard, with approximately 85 other recovering women and their children. After a few troubled teen years bouncing in and out of jail due to drug use and fraud charges, Rosales hopes to rebuild a relationship with her mother, who is also a recovering addict, and establish a relationship with her 8-month-old son who was born in jail in 2009.

“This is the best my life’s ever been,” Rosales explained, pausing to crunch through some ice as she stared at the gardens in front of her current home. “I’m used to pushing people away, and they stay away… but not here.  All these counselors are like mothers…”

It’s evident that through the support of the staff and other clients, these three women found the strong, motherly presence they said they missed from their childhoods, and in turn, were finally able to work toward becoming the mothers they had always wanted for their children.

Self-described as “over, over, over-protective,” Wilson recently celebrated her daughter’s 21st birthday. Ashley, the birthday girl, was the first baby born to PROTOTYPES, and Wilson anxiously watched her sip an alcoholic beverage on the big day. Wilson fought to calm her nerves enough to enjoy the celebration and take pride in the responsible person her daughter had become thanks to the lessons and love Wilson received from PROTOTYPES.

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