She kept the addiction at bay until she was 35 years old. “I got my teeth knocked out in a motorcycle accident and got addicted again,” Angela says. It was the third time that paved the path to prison and divorce, but also to a new purpose and career. Before her last relapse, Angela worked as a Girl Scout Leader and real estate agent. In addition, she worked a part-time job at the Franklin County Clerk of Courts to pay for her $500-a-day Oxycontin habit. When she had already depleted her family’s accounts and realized that her paycheck was not going to cover the cost of thirty pills a day, she began to embezzle money from the county — something that did not go unnoticed. The Judge sentenced her to six years for embezzlement of $200,000 from Franklin County. Her husband filed for divorce that day. Once in prison, she devised a plan to pay back those she had hurt. “I wrote to [the judge] to see about restitution because I had no way to pay back $200,000. I’d already drained family accounts and took from the county to cover that,” Angela says. The judge had her speak in the TIES program, and now Angela helps various judges set up drug courts around the state. Twice a month, she speaks to women in the CATCH program. “I have felonies for embezzlement and identity theft. Who would hire me? I found a way to make my own job title. I don’t always get paid, but I do it because I get to pay back,” she says. “ Showing other women who’ve come through similar struggles that you can make your own way, you can create your own life. ” 24 | ENVISION PROVEN SUCCESS MAGAZINE In addition to her work for the court, Angela works for Fair Rights, a non-profit organization, where she is a Treatment Placement Specialist. She is working toward a Bachelor of Arts in Chemical Addiction through Ohio Christian University. Her goal is to work for a treatment center so that she can help those who are recovering from drug or sexual abuse. Angela has worked hard to create her own title and develop her own career. “Who is going to hire me as a felon?” she asks. Her life’s work is helping others who face situations like the ones she survived. “Showing other women who’ve come through similar struggles that you can make your own way, you can create your own life,” Angela says. Amanda Page Amanda is an essayist and educator in Columbus, Ohio.
25 Publizr Home