Since the Fair Havens Christian Care Association home for female substance abusers opened in 1993, many women have passed through its doors. Although some have failed to complete the programme, or lapsed in their search for sobriety, most have returned to society as stable, productive citizens. Here is one woman's story of how her life has changed since she became a resident.

As agreed, a fictitious name has been used to protect her privacy.

*** Although her father died when she was a toddler, and her mother did her best to raise her children well, life was a struggle. There was food on the table, but no luxuries. At times, Mary-Jayne says, the family was "dysfunctional, like everybody else'', but all in all they got by.

On Sundays, their mother took her children to church, and they also attended Sunday school. Mary-Jayne took her faith seriously, and enjoyed its teachings.

In school, she was a bright, attentive pupil who did well, and she loved being a student. At 14, however, she had to go out to work, and found a job as an elevator operator in a hotel.

She felt very grown-up, earning her own money, but such freedom also had its price. Mary-Jayne got in with an older crowd who drank and partied, and to the naive teenager it seemed cool to join in.

She knew that her late father was a drinker, but hey, she was different -- or so she thought. As time progressed, so did her alcoholism. She went from "special occasions only'' to weekends plus special occasions.

Meanwhile, Mary-Jayne married and had a family of her own. The couple had a mortgage on their home, and life seemed beautiful, except that Mary-Jayne's craving for alcohol was increasing. The only time she didn't drink was when she was pregnant.

Over the years, she had a succession of jobs. Some she held because she managed to hide her problem from her employers, but at others, where it wasn't possible, she just made up some excuse and left.

Inevitably, it got to the stage where the wife and mother could not function without alcohol, and she drank every day and every night.

"It was very expensive,'' she admits.

Then her beloved husband passed away, leaving her to raise the children on her own.

How one woman's life was turned around To make matters worse, she was unemployed. Grief-sticken and in complete despair over her unexpected widowhood, she used the trauma of his death as an excuse to drink even more. If she could just blot out the pain ...

But the real world is unforgiving, and in the end she lost her home, and because of that her children, who were scattered among friends and family.

Of course, her loved ones had tried to counsel her over the years, but because she was in denial their words fell on deaf ears, so eventually they left her alone.

Now Mary-Jayne had reached the bottom of her downward spiral. There was no way out but up, so she turned to the Salvation Army and Focus. One thing led to another, and eventually she heard about Fair Havens Christian Care Association, and felt this would be the right programme for her.

"I couldn't get in right away,'' she relates. "In fact, I had to wait a whole year. In the meantime, I kept on drinking. I was living with so-called friends who drank. They were in denial and couldn't support themselves. In fact, they're still drinking, and they feel they're okay.'' Once accepted at Fair Havens, Mary-Jayne quickly learned that the programme was one of tough love. The staff were kind but firm, and they meant business.

"The programme is what you make it as an individual,'' she explains. "You have to abide by the rules. Once you do that, it's fine. In fact, I have found it very rewarding, because it is up to the individual to control themselves.'' Because the Fair Havens programme is Christian-based, Mary-Jayne has also rediscovered the spiritual roots of her childhood.

"Once you have accepted God in your heart it gives you serenity,'' she says.

"You have all of the goodness and joy inside. You feel great. There's no other way to make it. I honestly don't know how people live without God.'' In fact, Mary-Jayne once participated in a weekend spiritual retreat at Ports Island -- an experience she describes as "out of this world''. While the recovering alcoholic is still in the Fair Havens programme, her progress is such that she goes to work every day, and also enjoys social privileges which are designed to boost her confidence and prepare her for a return to life in the real world.

Indeed, the "new'' Mary-Jayne is a far cry from the person who lived a shabby existence fuelled by alcohol. Today, she is happy and confident, and has a positive outlook. So much so, in fact, that when her stay at Fair Havens comes to an end in the near future, she wants to become a volunteer.

"I feel that I am part of a special family now, and I would love to help out,'' she says.

Through her progress, the rift with her real family has also healed.

"There's unconditional love, and they're proud of me now,'' she says. "We're back on track where we're supposed to be. Before they didn't want me, and I didn't want myself, but now everything is wonderful.''