Marie's Story

In the past year and a half of my life, there have been more changes than any other time I can remember, and almost all of those changes have been positive.  I left an abusive relationship in May 2006, and at the same time I also went into a detox for alcohol and drug addiction.  The abuse had fueled the drinking, and probably vice versa as well.  I am happy to say that I have been drug-free since May 17, 2006 and that my life has become one that I can be proud of.  I have been living at a halfway house for women for over a year now, and this house has helped me to stay sober and also to find myself as a strong and capable woman.  I am surrounded by women who want me to succeed, and this gives me so much strength.  However, a few months into my recovery, I began to feel like maybe, as good as my life was, that something was still missing. This something turned out to be a plan for my future.  I had lived so many years just thinking in the immediate present and 'surviving' that my dreams had sort of disappeared.  In the past 9 months or so, I began to really be able to imagine my future again.  I am lucky enough to have a Bachelor's in Psychology, which I completed in my early 20s, but I decided that I want to go on to get a certificate in substance abuse counseling.  This would have been absolutely impossible without the help of Web of Benefit.  Financially, there was no way I could have managed this.  However, my mother told me about Web of Benefit and urged me to apply for the grant.  I was so surprised and happy to get this grant.  I was able to enroll in a program at Middlesex College, and it is exactly the program that I need right now.  Because of the help from Web of Benefit, I have been able to have much of my school paid for, and this allowed me to save a little bit of money for the first time in years.  With this little bit of money, I am now looking to move into my own apartment in Tewksbury, MA, which is where the halfway house is located.  I am doing this in order to stay connected to the house, but also live independently, which is what I feel I need in order to have confidence in myself that I really can do this 'on my own'.  Without the Web of Benefit grant, either school or housing would have had to wait, and my life would not be what it is today.  With my education, I am going to help other women who have survived abuse and alcoholism/drug dependence.  I am so happy for this chance to give back, and to use my own experiences to help others.  I have also passed on information about Web of Benefit to other women in my house, and I have been very vocal about how very much you have helped me to pursue my own long-forgotten dreams.   Thank you with all my heart.  -Marie, WOB Grantee