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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2019)
6A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL SAFE from A1 everybody was losing their jobs,” she said. “It got real- ly bad really fast.” Thompson herself fell into the pattern, smoking marijuana to excess and keeping her pain sup- pressed regularly with al- cohol. It wasn’t her first experience with substance abuse and its return caused a rift between Thompson and her fiancé in Tacoma. Before long the two were split. Thompson’s financial situation worsened as she invested more and more into dulling her senses with substances. With that, a deep shame set in. “When you’re spending every dime you have on drugs, there’s shame that comes with that,” Thomp- son said. “When you don’t eat dinner because it’s go- ing to interfere with your drug money, there’s shame there.” Desperate to extricate herself from the situation, Thompson chose the soli- tude of homelessness over the steady downward tra- jectory of her social en- vironment. For a month, Thompson lived and de- toxed in her car, sleeping in parking lots. Though distancing her- self from drugs was clear- ing her mind, the sharp realization that her op- tions were dwindling was a psychological burden unto itself. “I was freezing cold,” she said. “And I also didn’t have any money because I couldn’t pass a drug UA (urinary analysis) to get a job.” Thompson’s career fo- cus is as a certified nursing assistant, a job which drug screens its applicants. But when she turned to fast food restaurants for a job, she could not find employ- ment. In a desperate bid for help, Thompson appealed to social media for support or guidance. In a turn of fortune, someone posted the phone number of Safe Haven. A woman’s voice on the other end of the line of- fered the respite Thomp- son had been seeking. “When I called the num- ber, she said, ‘We have an opening for you tonight. You don’t have to sleep in your car anymore,’” said Thompson. Thompson was vetted over the phone and stayed in a warm bed that night. Speechless and over- whelmed, she could only thank her benefactor through tears. “It took days for it to sink in,” Thompson said. The calming environ- ment of the Booher House gave Thompson the basic foundation she needed to begin piecing her life back together. “Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to stay clean,” she said. “I would’ve had to go back to my fam- ily’s house and I would’ve ended up using again.” Her drive for self-better- ment is spurred partly by her desire to set a model of behavior. Thompson has a 17-year-old son and two daughters in their early 20s with whom a strained relationship had formed n The Northwest’s Finest Gardening Seed n Flowers, Herbs, & Shrubs n Vegetable Transplants n Fruit Trees due to Thompson’s drug abuse. “I wanted to get clean and sober and better my life and set a good example for the younger people in my family,” said Thomp- son. Now, she says, her chil- dren have told her that she speaks more positively about life since her sober living began. “My kids are very proud that I got clean,” said Thompson. Thompson is currently back to work pursuing her career as a nursing assis- tant. “I can see it going a lot of good places for me in the future,” she said. A few days after Thomp- son took up residence in the Booher House, Leah (her last name has been withheld) became the house’s second resident. Nearly a decade ago, Leah’s son died of amyo- trophic lateral sclerosis, an incurable and progressive neurodegenerative dis- ease that causes gradual loss of muscle control. He succumbed to the disease within a year of his diag- nosis. By her own admission, Leah was no stranger to alcohol abuse, but the loss of her son catalyzed the habit into something more deeply pathological. “Ever since then I’ve been trying to drink my- self to death,” she said. Additionally, Leah’s struggles with PTSD made for a compounding factor which ultimately put her on a track in which she faced a life on the streets. At 60 years old, her pros- pects seemed dim and she began contemplating sui- cide. Leah bounced between various crisis services in Cottage Grove and Eu- gene, but the tumult of the process was wearing on her already thin supply of perseverance. Despite this, she found a way to re- main sober and eventually learned about the Booher House. “I found this place when I was at my wit’s end,” she said. “This house and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) have given me a whole 911 E. Main St. Cottage Grove 541.649.1188 Open 24 Hrs. LOWEST PRICES ON BEER, CIGARETTE, ICEE’S AND MILKSHAKES Any service with coupon Schedule your appointment Today! Not Valid on any service Exceeding $100 • Expires 10/31/19 Not valid with any other offer. See BOOHER 9A EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! 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