NORTH CAROLINA — The addiction recovery program Freedom House has been open for over 16 years, giving mothers who are overcoming addiction a safe and structured way to get back on their feet. 

Kirsten, whose last name is being omitted for safety reasons, has been a resident at Freedom House since being released from jail in November. She was held in contempt of court last year while she was on felony probation. 

“I was on the brink of death. So, it saved my life, because if I would have left that courtroom that day, I probably would've died,” Kirsten said. 

She said she was using fentanyl and methamphetamine for years and selling drugs. 

“I was almost like, kind of like on a suicide mission, you know, with that addiction,” Kirsten said. 

While in jail, she knew it was time to change. 

“It was a moment of like, I did this. I take responsibility for this. I'm responsible like and I, I need to sit here, and I said, I want to use these 30 days to really, like, soak it all in,” Kirsten said.

She said she her faith again and was given a choice. 

Kirsten making strawberry jam. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

“I kept reading and reading and reading and reading. And in a short amount of time, I just remember just sitting there crying and being like, I can do this. I can, I can really change. If I just commit myself to God, and I commit myself to recovery. And I remember my lawyer came in there and, um, she was like, I have some applications," Kirsten said. "Actually, I just have one application. It's for Freedom House."

According to Freedom House’s website, they have served over 300 people and allow children to stay with their mothers. 

“And it is a learning process, and I'm not going to change overnight, but I already know that I've changed a lot since I've been here. I'm this is the happiest I've been. Even without my two little girls, which I miss dearly every day. And it's hard. It's a struggle, but I know that this is the happiest I've been in years,” Kirsten said. 

Kirsten is also in her third trimester with a third daughter. 

“I felt guilty about being pregnant because I'm like, 'I'm going to get my stuff together for this baby, but not for them,' you know? And that's how it was, I was told I should feel,” Kirsten said. 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says babies who are in gestation when mothers use opioids are often born physically dependent on drugs, or can be born with defects. 

“It's so dangerous to try it because you're going to be addicted to it once you try it for, I mean, a lot of times it’ll make people really sick. If it doesn't make you sick, it can kill you. And it's just nothing to play around about. It's so dangerous, so dangerous,” Kirsten said. 

CNN reports that, according to JAMA Pediatrics, more than 5,000 children and teens have died from overdoses involving fentanyl in the past two decades. 

Kirsten was also able to see one of her daughters for the first time in years while at Freedom House. 

“Being on drugs, you kind of get stuck in time. ... And so in my head, that's where my kids were. And then when I went three years without seeing them. And that's not that I didn't try, but their dads knew that I wasn't doing the right thing. And so they didn't want to have that around my kids, which is completely understandable. But it still didn't help the hurt. But I went three years without seeing them, and whenever they did, let me finally see each of them. My oldest daughter was, you know, a young little lady,” Kirsten said. 

Now she is getting to reconnect with her daughter, even letting her pick the new baby's name. 

“My daughter started crying on the phone, and she was like, 'Oh my goodness, I'm so happy.' She was like, 'I just wanted a real baby so bad.' And she was so happy for me,” Kirsten said. 

The baby will get to stay with Kirsten at Freedom House as she keeps going in the program. While she continues toward her next levels at Freedom House and graduation, she helps make jam to sell from their farm and works in their thrift stores, Freedom House Thrift. 

“Basically, it's, it's a really great thing because, you know, our time is well accounted for, and we're doing something productive at each point of the day,” Kirsten said. 

The money that is made from the sale of the jam and the thrift store goes back to fund Freedom House. Mothers also get makeovers when reaching a certain point in the program.

“We're not defined by our mistakes. We are defined by what we do after what we make out of those mistakes and what we do with our life. After that, I believe that there's always a better outcome. If you're just willing to try and everybody's life has a purpose, and if we could just reach down deep and know that we are worth it, I believe that we can all overcome anything with the help of God,” Kirsten said. 

She said if her story inspires one person to make the change to better themselves of their child, it’s worth it. 

Kirsten organizing clothes at Freedom House Thrift. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

“I would be in prison probably delivering a baby. And delivering a baby in prison has one outcome. You get it taken, and you stay in prison and that would have that would have done me in. That would have been too ... emotional. My life would be still out on the streets or in jail or in prison. ... But that was what I was looking at. I was definitely going to prison. A probation officer said to me, he said: 'You get some help where you can find help in prison.' So getting help was what I wanted, and it's the best decision I've ever made,” Kirsten said. 

As well as if she can do it, anyone can. 

“If I could reach one person struggling in addiction, or one person that is struggling in any kind of, um, anything, really. That there's always  there's always a better side of things. There's always a better way of life. And I believe that if you just give it ... you got ... to want to change. But if you fully give your commitment to God and to wanting to change, anything's possible. Anything,” said Kirsten. 

Kirsten will be with Freedom House for at least a year until she moves to the next phase of the program. After graduation, she hopes to be a peer support specialist and gain shared custody of her daughters. 

If someone is wishing to apply to Freedom House's Residential Program, they can visit their website to fill out an application. Visit the "Our Program" and select "Apply Now," after an application is submitted and received, a phone interview will be conducted. 

Freedom House's office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To contact Freedom House visit their website, or call them at (336) 286-7622.