WILMINGTON SUCCESS STORIES

Below are excerpts from letters sent in by our patients:

Hello WTC Staff and Whoever Else,

In 1992 I was an inpatient at WTC. I was a Heroin Addict in the grip of addiction who had just detoxed for the very first time. Motivated by only fear and pain I took the first step. When I left WTC 27 days later people said to me, "John, You have been brainwashed!" Still to this day my response is, "At that time in my life my brain needed to be washed!" I have never touched heroin or any other kind of Opiates since.

I remember sitting in a class for IV drug users discussing STD's and Hepatitis thinking to myself "This isn't gonna happen to me." I have been living with HIV/AIDS now for about 12 years.

WTC showed me how to successfully trade one addiction for another. As an addict speaking, the key word there is SUCCESSFULLY.

I hope to visit WTC and share my experience, strength and hope where mine all began. I will be speaking at workshops and in forums beginning early 2007.

"Not everybody wants to look at how they're creating their life and get in touch with how to change it."

Dear Charlie,

My name is Pam W and I am a drug addict I'm writing you this letter to thank you for saving my life. I am a 46 year old ex housewife and a mother that never intended to end up a crack head. I have two sons that I love more than life. A 26 year old that owns his own business, has just recently bought his first home and has the best girlfriend you can imagine. I pray that someday she will be my daughter in law. He is my best friend. My 15 year old is a sensitive, caring child, who has had two open heart surgeries and three time stint emplacement. He won a scholarship to college last year for his writings. He is the apple of my eye.

I was a cocaine addict 25 years ago, got tired of it and was straight all these years. I ran my home like a well oiled machine. Five years left on my mortgage, a fine little beach house that I lost to crack along with 2 cars, a Silverado, camper, and all of my other worldly possessions. This all happened on a 7 month spree. It seemed the worse things got, the more I got high. I lost my pride, my dignity, and most of all, trust from my sons.

I came here begging for help. Not knowing where else to turn, I ended up at WTC. This place and the wonderful people here have slowly begun the process of turning my life around. The thought of leaving here was devastating. To put me back out there to a roommate who is an extreme alcoholic, I don't know that I'm that strong.

I didn't mean for this letter to be this long, I just wanted you to know how grateful I am and regardless of what comes along I will not let you down. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Dear Staff of Wilmington Treatment Center,

I was a patient at the center in March-April 2002. I appreciate the invitation to the celebration on Saturday, but due to a conflict in my work schedule, I will not be able to attend. I would like to say thank you again to everyone that helped save my life. Without your support I probably wouldn't be where I am to today. I especially remember my counselor, David, and how helpful he was to me and my family during that time. I have held down a job for the longest time ever. I am living on my own and enjoying life with a clear mind. I can't say that there haven't been challenges, but I have been able to face them a lot better because of the help I received from WTC. You may share this letter and I hope in some small way it might be an encouragement to someone going through the program. There is no doubt without the WTC I would be dead.

With God's help and the counseling and encouragement I received while there I feel I have a bright future ahead. For this I will always be grateful.

Thank you so much for the help and support you gave to our son. He is a precious soul and has a wonderful loving spirit. His stay with all of you helped focus him on a clean path. We have said many of the same things to him that you did, but hearing it from those outside his family put a new slant on the message. Thank you for helping us too on the family days. Please continue praying with us for his ongoing victory. We appreciate your time and care, as well as your expertise. Please tell the counselor how much we think of him.

I'd like to thank you and the staff for helping me back to the right path of Sober Living. It's great being sober. God Bless you.

I thank God each day for my new life and for you people at Wilmington Treatment Center.

To the entire WTC nursing staff,

On a scale of 1 to 10 you easily score an 11. Thanks for all you do and for putting up with all the bad stuff. It takes very special people to do your job and each and every one of you is special. Thank you.

To the staff of WTC,

I want to thank each one of you for donating a little bit of your hope so I could have a lot of hope! It is because of you that I am not only alive today, but happy to be.

An Appreciation of our staff:

Hello Ms. Dudley,

I have been meaning to write to you as the Clinical Director for some time.  Unfortunately, with our jobs, time is too often limited and fleeting.  As a result, we forget sometimes to send our appreciation when it is warranted.  I wanted to let you know how pleased we here at Walter Reed have been with the amount of care and quality of treatment received by our soldiers from your program.  I want to specifically identify Raven LeFebvre for the outstanding work she has done in managing our soldiers and coordinating care with the therapists here at Walter Reed.  We know how many difficult issues with which our patients present and Raven has handled them all with the utmost professionalism and patience. Our gratitude to all your staff for their ongoing support.

We are grateful to have your facility as a resource and look forward to continuing our close cooperation in caring for our men and women in uniform.  Thank you again.

Ken Link, LICSW CAC SAP
NA.AMEDD.ARMY.MIL