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It's quiet around Alicia's kitchen table until exuberant chaos bursts through the front door in the form of a handful of kids fresh off the school bus. Alicia's daughter, Hannah, reaches through the group to give her mom a hug. The children surround Alicia, 30, talking over each other, tapping her shoulder—anything to keep her attention while recapping the day and begging for snacks.

"There aren't enough of those for everybody … unless you cut 'em in half," Alicia directs, as they reach for blueberry muffins in a pan on the stove. Satisfied with hugs and treats to share, they move off en masse and it's quiet again.

The interruption relaxes Alicia enough to tell her story. It's a hard one, but it has a happy ending.

Road to recovery

Alicia is the first graduate of Union County's Children and Recovering Mothers (CHARM) program. Her amazing success is what's possible for those coming out of addiction when given support, honesty and accountability. For those, like Alicia, strong enough to seek help.

Alicia did not have many positive role models growing up, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) made school a challenge. At 13, she got high for the first time and eventually dropped out of middle school. A few years later, she got clean and sober and stayed that way until her mid-20s. An unhealthy relationship and marr-iage with a drug user, however, led Alicia to methamphetamine addiction.

Reality hit Alicia hard a little over two years ago when she lost custody of Hannah and her oldest son, Kysin, who was awarded to his biological father and taken out of state. Alicia has had no contact with him since—a situation she is determined to eventually change. Hannah's father was not a suitable guardian, so the 8-year-old was placed into foster care with a family in Umatilla County.

Alicia discovered she was pregnant—the one thing that would keep her from using. Addicts do not deal well with pressure, however, and Alicia was afraid she would relapse once the baby came and permanently lose all three of her children.

When her care team at the GRH Women's Clinic talked to her about committing to the CHARM program, she listened. And in October 2017, at 33 weeks pregnant, she signed up.

Determined to keep her relationship with Hannah intact, Alicia spent that winter riding a bus at least once a week over to Pendleton, to then wait for another bus to Hermiston. After spending two hours with her daughter, Alicia would get back on the bus and come home alone. Six hours of round-trip travel just so that she could see Hannah and show her how much she was loved.

During the months that followed, Alicia did everything right. She left a toxic relationship with Hannah and Jeremiah's father to move in with her no-nonsense, but rock-solid and supportive aunt, Sandy. After Jeremiah was born, Alicia remained committed to the CHARM program with the goal of keeping him and bringing Hannah home.

Eventually, Hannah was able to visit for weekends. After Alicia was able to move into a small two-bedroom apartment—the first place of her own—in the spring of 2018, she surprised Hannah on her 10th birthday with her very own room and told her she was home for good.

"If it wasn't for the CHARM program, I wouldn't be here," Alicia says, adding her Aunt Sandy, along with CHARM partners Grande Ronde Recovery, the Center for Human Development, the Kindred Support program, and the Healthy Families program, to the list.

Alicia has a long way to go, needing the support system she has wisely kept in place, and has big goals. The biggest one is to get her GED (high school equivalency diploma), and even though her ADHD makes it hard, she perseveres. She is also determined to get her driver's license, a job and move into a bigger apartment. But the best news of all came right before this interview.

"I found out today: Child Welfare Services is satisfied and will be closing my case," Alicia says, looking positively exuberant at what is her biggest accomplishment yet.

When asked about the No. 1 takeaway she wants people to know about her and others like her, without hesitation she says:

"It's important for health care professionals to be able to understand and help women like me. Addiction may be a choice, but I would ask people to remember that they are also human beings with beautiful souls—they just got lost. They need help to find their way back—just like I did."