|
Description:
|
|
President Trump wants to defund Housing First programs, claiming they enable drug use and don’t hold people accountable for their actions. But Housing First proponents say it’s more complicated than that. For many, drug use begins or worsens when you live on the streets — because it’s one way to escape a horrible situation. That means getting sober when you’re homeless is often much harder than when you’re housed.
Amber Mariah Metzinger, 48, used to do methamphetamine when she lived on LA’s streets. She stopped after entering a Housing First program.
Metzinger tells KCRW that she became homeless 10 years ago while living in Section 8 housing. She experienced domestic violence in her relationship, and her five daughters were taken away because they saw the abuse. “When I lost my kids, I lost my Section 8 housing and everything. And I ended up on the streets and using.”
She stayed in parks and tunnels, and for protection, became codependent on whoever was willing to help her. At times, she says she chose bad relationships.
Metzinger also started using meth more because “I'd like to stay aware and awake instead of people being able to take advantage of me if I was sleeping or whatever.”
She continues, “A lot of it was for protection and to forget the fact that I didn't have my kids with me.”
At one point, she stopped using meth and passed a drug test to regain custody of her kids. But she lost them again when she was later arrested.
Then about five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Metzinger participated in Project Roomkey , which put her into a hotel for nine months. Her boyfriend, Shane Partaker, shared the hotel room too — they had been together for a few years. After that, they transitioned to a house in Lancaster, along with others who had been living on the streets. They shared housing for about a year and a half.
It was there that, on January 1, 2022, Metzinger and her partner stopped using drugs. They have been sober since then, she says. They decided previously that 2021 would be their last year on substances.
Her relationship with Partaker was transformational, she acknowledges. The two met while living on the streets in Pomona in January 2018. “He was flashing a picture of his daughter around, and I wanted to know more about his daughter because I have five daughters. So I wanted to see the picture. And we were together from that day on,” she recalls.
While sharing the Lancaster house, Metzinger and Partaker visited his parents in Ontario on the weekends, and their stays became longer and longer. “They just didn't want to see us keep going back to the old places, and there was a chance that maybe we would relapse. So they had us move in with them, and we've been living with them since then.”
Partaker’s kids are with them, plus Metzinger’s youngest daughter, whom she regained custody of two years ago. She’s also in frequent contact with her other children — plus grandkids.
“They're all really proud of me. They trust me 100%. I was given an ultimatum about six months before I got sober. And my daughter said, ‘You know what? You want to see them? You can't keep going in and out of their lives. You have to be a part of their life, or you're not going to see them.’ And that really scared me. I've done a lot. … I'm on my way to becoming a drug and alcohol counselor. I finished my school already and everything. [I’m] a registered drug and alcohol technician, so I work in the field, helping other people become sober,” she says.
Metzinger says she credits the Housing First program with turning her life around. “I know I wouldn't be sober today if I didn't have a roof over my head. Having the roof over my head made me realize that I could do more, and I could get everything back that I had lost during my usage.”
Now when helping others with their addiction issues, she shares her personal story. She tells them that they have to want to be done with drugs, assistance is available, and if she could do it, they can too.
As for people’s biggest misconception about those who are unhoused and/or reliant on substances, Metzinger says, “They think we're all just criminals and we're gonna rob them and everything like that. Honestly, I've never robbed a person before. … A lot of us on the streets are good people who want a way out. And it's hard to get out. It's really, really hard to get out.”
More: Housing First: Where’d it come from, how successful is it? |
.png)
More
Religion & Spirituality
Education
Arts and Design
Health
Fashion & Beauty
Government & Organizations
Kids & family
Music
News & Politics
Science & Medicine
Society & Culture
Sports & Recreation
TV & Film
Technology
Philosophy
Storytelling
Horror and Paranomal
True Crime
Leisure
Travel
Fiction
Crypto
Marketing
History
Comedy
Arts
Games & Hobbies
Business
Motivation
