Mom’s Bond with Son Motivates Continued Sobriety

Jaime* was fleeing so much more than a drug addiction when she came to Parisi House. She was escaping a relationship that had gotten dangerously toxic and progressively more violent as her and her partner’s drug habits brought them deeper and deeper into their addictions. She desperately needed the safety and support Parisi House was able to provide to her and her son.
Like many of our moms, Jaime’s experiences with drugs and alcohol began with teenage experimentation. After her mother decided to move the family out of state, Jaime’s experimentation spiraled out of control and landed her some legal trouble. She eventually ran away back to California and managed to get a medical assisting certificate but never used it. She also began pursuing her cosmetology license. Throughout this time in her life, she made several attempts at sobriety.
Jaime met someone during one of those sobriety attempts and quickly discovered she was pregnant. She stayed sober throughout her pregnancy and after her son was born. However, the baby’s father continued to relapse in and out of his addiction. Jaime cycled in and out of sobriety herself; each time, her addiction took her to deeper levels of dependency and harder drugs. This dynamic continued, and so did the periods of physical abuse. When her son eventually began getting caught in the crossfire, she knew she had to get help. She had tried and tried to solve her problems herself to no avail.
Jaime had heard about Parisi House by accessing the county referral line. She had received other resources that way in the past. When Jaime called us directly, our Program Director Jeff Geiger, told her that there was space for her and her son immediately. Jaime was comforted to know she could access addiction treatment services with her son. She says, “I could not have done it without him.”
Our moms often appreciate that our program provides an array of recovery tools and life skills to prepare them to maintain a sober lifestyle moving forward. Jaime also paid incredibly close attention to the parenting skills she was learning. When they first came to our program, her son was nonverbal at three years old. Parisi House taught her how to understand her son’s needs and communicate with him. She feels the classes equipped her with essential parenting tools to allow her son to flourish under her care, noting, “I saw more progress in him in one week there than I had over a whole year before we got there.”
The progress Jaime witnessed strengthened the bond she and her son were developing. It also motivated her to stay sober. While there were attempts to resume a relationship between her son and his father, she quickly understood that the only stable parent her son had to count on was her. Jaime was going to always be that for him moving forward. As she prepared to graduate, Parisi House staff connected her with additional outside services to continue healing from the trauma of her past and help her get her son into therapy. Listening to her recount how our program changed her life, it is evident that Jaime put immense work into practicing and applying the tools to live a successful life moving forward. After graduating, she finally put her medical assisting certificate to use in administering COVID testing, eventually deciding to pursue a degree in nursing. Today, Jaime continues her path of healing from the past. She has a close relationship with her son, repaired relationships with family, and a bright future ahead. Jaime says, “I came to Parisi House seeking safety and sobriety, and that is exactly what I got.”
*Client name changed to protect anonymity

Mom’s Bond with Son Motivates Continued Sobriety

Jaime* was fleeing so much more than a drug addiction when she came to Parisi House. She was escaping a relationship that had gotten dangerously toxic and progressively more violent as her and her partner’s drug habits brought them deeper and deeper into their addictions. She desperately needed the safety and support Parisi House was able to provide to her and her son.
Like many of our moms, Jaime’s experiences with drugs and alcohol began with teenage experimentation. After her mother decided to move the family out of state, Jaime’s experimentation spiraled out of control and landed her some legal trouble. She eventually ran away back to California and managed to get a medical assisting certificate but never used it. She also began pursuing her cosmetology license. Throughout this time in her life, she made several attempts at sobriety.
Jaime met someone during one of those sobriety attempts and quickly discovered she was pregnant. She stayed sober throughout her pregnancy and after her son was born. However, the baby’s father continued to relapse in and out of his addiction. Jaime cycled in and out of sobriety herself; each time, her addiction took her to deeper levels of dependency and harder drugs. This dynamic continued, and so did the periods of physical abuse. When her son eventually began getting caught in the crossfire, she knew she had to get help. She had tried and tried to solve her problems herself to no avail.
Jaime had heard about Parisi House by accessing the county referral line. She had received other resources that way in the past. When Jaime called us directly, our Program Director Jeff Geiger, told her that there was space for her and her son immediately. Jaime was comforted to know she could access addiction treatment services with her son. She says, “I could not have done it without him.”
Our moms often appreciate that our program provides an array of recovery tools and life skills to prepare them to maintain a sober lifestyle moving forward. Jaime also paid incredibly close attention to the parenting skills she was learning. When they first came to our program, her son was nonverbal at three years old. Parisi House taught her how to understand her son’s needs and communicate with him. She feels the classes equipped her with essential parenting tools to allow her son to flourish under her care, noting, “I saw more progress in him in one week there than I had over a whole year before we got there.”
The progress Jaime witnessed strengthened the bond she and her son were developing. It also motivated her to stay sober. While there were attempts to resume a relationship between her son and his father, she quickly understood that the only stable parent her son had to count on was her. Jaime was going to always be that for him moving forward. As she prepared to graduate, Parisi House staff connected her with additional outside services to continue healing from the trauma of her past and help her get her son into therapy. Listening to her recount how our program changed her life, it is evident that Jaime put immense work into practicing and applying the tools to live a successful life moving forward. After graduating, she finally put her medical assisting certificate to use in administering COVID testing, eventually deciding to pursue a degree in nursing. Today, Jaime continues her path of healing from the past. She has a close relationship with her son, repaired relationships with family, and a bright future ahead. Jaime says, “I came to Parisi House seeking safety and sobriety, and that is exactly what I got.”
*Client name changed to protect anonymity