Ex-Resident Joins Micah House Board to Share Lessons

[story from March 2006 Vine]

One day last spring, former Micah House resident Diana M., home with the flu, was contemplating her life. She had a good job in D.C. Superior Court, her own home and supportive friends and family--in short, nothing to complain about. Yet she felt something was missing.

Then the telephone rang. Tina Coplan, vice president of Micah House, asked Diana if she would join the Micah House board. Diana was stunned at first and could barely respond. But the answer was obvious: What better way to share some of the lessons she had learned than to help at the place that had played such a key role in her life?

"I was so honored and so surprised," she said. "I could hardly believe that this opportunity was being offered to me. And when a former resident learned of my new role in Micah House, she, too, was surprised. I'm sure it gives her another glimpse of what is possible in her own life."

Diana initially began using drugs in New Jersey, where she grew up. She tried to get a new start on life in the mid-1980s, with a move to South Carolina. But she couldn't kick the habit, and ended up in a welfare hotel. For a while, she worked for a sheriff 's office, but lost her job. She got another, in a judge's office, and felt that her life was getting on track. Diana moved to the Washington area in 1989. But a few years later, her three-month-old baby died of pneumonia. And in her grief, she returned to drugs.

Diana recognized she needed help. She gave up her apartment and her job, and entered a drug treatment program. In 1993, after six months in the program, she moved into Micah House.

She never looked back. During her two years at Micah House, Diana worked and saved enough money to make a down payment on a house. In 1995, Ann S., then president of Micah House, accompanied Diana to the settlement. The late Renee Achter, also then a Micah House board member, served as a mentor to Diana. Since leaving Micah House, Diana has continued her work in the criminal justice system. She worked for the D.C. Public Defender Service, a private law firm and the D.C. Court of Appeals. She also works annually as a tax preparer for H&R Block.

Diana, 46 and celebrating her 13th year of being drug- and alcohol-free, said she is delighted that she can "give back" some of what she received from Micah House. Now she serves as a role model for other women looking for a second start in life.

[by Genie Grohman; from March 2006 Vine]