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MASSARO: Drugs lost out to baby girl

By Gary Massaro, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 15, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Rebecca Towne, 25, holds her daughter, Hannah, 2, after Hannah's evening bath in their Englewood apartment.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Rebecca Towne, 25, holds her daughter, Hannah, 2, after Hannah's evening bath in their Englewood apartment.

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When Rebecca Towne had a baby, she also brought herself back to life.

"I was coming out of addiction problems," she said.

That's why she left her native Memphis, Tenn., for Colorado seven years ago - to get away from drugs.

"I thought I was going to get away from the lifestyle," she said. "It came back to me. Or I found it again."

When she found out she was pregnant, she knew she needed help. Her family had been there for her. But she had turned her back on them, insulating herself in a shell of drugs.

But she knew that she needed to change when she had a baby growing inside her.

So she went to her doctor, who, she thinks, suggested some counseling places. Things were pretty fuzzy back then.

She sought help, enrolling as an outpatient at Arapahoe House, where she was in treatment four months with others like her.

Then she applied for welfare assistance. And social services workers told her she first had to go through the Center for Education and Employment course - CWEE, for short, and pronounced See-Wee.

That's when her life began the big turnaround. She took it seriously, the courses at CWEE. Staff pointed out the good things Towne had quit seeing in herself.

"They complimented you," she said. "It was genuine."

She wasn't used to getting compliments, or accepting them.

She began to realize that she wasn't so bad after all.

She learned interview techniques. CWEE staff helped her prepare a resume.

"I hadn't worked in five years," she said.

Towne, 25, uses her eyebrows as punctuation marks to accent her words. She has tiny hands and feet. Hannah, her daughter, inherited her mother's physique, standing knee-high to the coffee table in the living room of their apartment.

Hannah was putting a toy away recently and bumped her head. Tears followed quickly, and, as quickly, ended when Towne held her and kissed her.

Towne was a bank teller in Memphis - liked working with numbers.

After CWEE, she got a job as an accounting clerk.

She, Hannah and husband, Kurt, have settled into an apartment. They've been paying their rent on time for a year - something that's also been new in their lives, paying bills - and on time.

Hannah gives her a reason to provide a stable home.

Hannah, a dark-eyed angel, likes to play on toy drums or keyboard. Her dad's a musician.

A calendar on a wall of Towne's house has these words: "Little miracles are everywhere."

"Yes. I believe in miracles," Towne said. "Hannah is one. I started thinking about the future recently. Before, I was so caught up in trying to stay functional, staying normal."

She has been straight about three years.

"What keeps me sober now is my daughter," she said.

massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

Comments

  • April 15, 2008

    1:57 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    happymike44 writes:

    If this is what my tax money is paying for I am all for it.This is a person who got her act together and not only saved her own life.But she also became a person who could feel proud to be a parent.To her I want to say Great Job,hope you and your daughter have a wonderful life together.

  • April 15, 2008

    6:42 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    vudumom writes:

    Ditto!

  • April 15, 2008

    8:11 a.m.

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    kathyM writes:

    My sister had a similar experience. Her miracle child will graduate from high school in May, with a diploma from an academic powerhouse and college offers in hand. Keep up the great work, Rebecca, and your daughter will have the world at her feet!

  • April 16, 2008

    9:22 a.m.

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    mhouston writes:

    My name is Meeka Houston. I was Rebecca's Case manager at CWEE. I am so proud of Rebecca and her accomplishments, it brings me to tears when I think about where she came from and where she is today. Rebecca has been selected as a Silver Flame Award winner and will be honored this year at CWEE' s annual Alumni Luncheon. If you would like to hear her full story and stories of other great women like Rebecca, please join us at EXDO event Ctr in Denver
    May 1,2008. For more information please click on this link http://www.cwee.org/InvestingInSucces...

    Rebecca, I am so proud of you and hope you continue to grow, strive, and prosper. Hannah is a blessing and deserves all that life has to offer. Rebecca never give up on your dreams because as you can see they do come true.