Thought this was very inspirational.  83 arrests, 66 convictions, mostly for drugs & occasional prostitution charges when she tried to make money... to buy drugs.  Hope those struggling can find some hope too.

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Maryland woman, arrested 83 times, talks about challenges of trauma

After 16 years of addiction to crack cocaine and 83 arrests, (some recovered inspirational women) knew there were two likely ends to her life — one in a prison cell, the other a premature death on the streets.

“Seven years ago I lived under a bridge, eating out of a trash can,” she said. “Seven years ago they told me I was never going to amount to anything.”

She had 66 convictions, mostly for possession of crack cocaine or drug paraphernalia, with the occasional prostitution charge when she tried to get money to buy drugs.

Now, she works with the Annapolis, Md., police — who used to arrest her — to help people living on the streets and educate policy makers and criminal justice workers about the effects of trauma.

(some recovered inspirational women) spoke at xxxx Community College Friday morning as part of the Child Abuse Council of Mxxxxxx County's “Saving Lives, Embracing Children” conference.

(some recovered inspirational women)'s trauma started at age 9, when she was verbally and physically abused by her mother, and sexually abused by men her mother would “entertain.” She started drinking later that same year.

“When my mother smacked me down it didn't hurt as much, and when the men would come it wasn't as painful or shameful,” she said.

(some recovered inspirational women) often missed school while caring for her eight younger siblings during their mother's frequent absences. None of her teachers asked her why she missed school – an omission repeated again and again over the years.

(some recovered inspirational women) swallowed a bottle of pills in a suicide attempt at age 14, but was revived. Her mother convinced the doctors it was an accidental overdose, and she was sent to live with an aunt. Once again, no one asked her what had happened, she said.

She married an older man while underage to find a home. Soon, she was pregnant and her husband ordered her to leave school, beating her if the house wasn't clean enough when he got home, she said. She tried crack cocaine not long afterward, at age 19.

“I never had to feel anything again,” she said.

She had four children over the course of her battle with addiction. All were taken by Social Services and adopted, and “rightfully so,” she said.

The prison system became a kind of second home for the next 16 years, and she lived on the streets between sentences. She also checked herself in for mental treatment, but her trauma was never addressed, she said.

Being locked up and left alone frequently triggered her childhood fears of abandonment, and she reacted by fighting when someone came to bring her food or medication, leading to time in restraints and beginning the cycle again, she said.

“One of the worst things you can do with someone who was a victim of neglect and abandonment is to lock them up and walk away,” she said.

It seemed like nothing would be different when she was arrested again in 2004, while pregnant with her fifth child. What changed her life, though, was the chance to participate in a treatment program for pregnant inmates that allowed them to stay with their children while recovering from their addictions.

For the first time, someone was listening when she talked about the pain from years of abuse and neglect. As she brought the trauma into the open, she began to heal and learn how to care for herself and her new daughter.

Now she owns a home, sends her daughter to private school and runs two companies. Still, she said she can't help wondering if the 16 years she lost could have been avoided if someone had recognized her pain when she was 9.

(some counselor), who counsels adults with developmental disabilities for Community Mental Health of Mxxxx County, said many of the people she encounters have trauma in their past.

“It was really eye-opening, how people didn't ask her what was going on, that nobody had reached out to her for such a long time,” she said.