A Second Chance for Families : Drug abuse: Heritage House program treats addicted mothers and their children.

At the height of her drug habit, Viola Bennett couldn’t set aside enough time to simply take her two young children to the movies.

“I didn’t want to be alone with them for that long. I felt I had to isolate--even from my children,” Bennett said. “They were feeling emotionally abandoned.”

In the six months since Bennett, 28, entered drug rehabilitation, she has had to relearn how to be a parent.

This week Bennett and her children, Stephanie, 7, and Dvon, 5, became the first graduates of the drug and alcohol recovery program at the Heritage House in Costa Mesa. The facility, owned and operated by the Southeast Council on Alcohol and Drug Problems based in Downey, is the first residential program in Orange County to combine treatment for alcohol and drug-abusing mothers and their children.

“Child care has always been a barrier to treatment,” said Jackie Foley, associate director of the Southeast Council, who has worked in the field for 18 years. “Women would not go into treatment if they thought they would lose their children.”

Before seeking help late last year, Bennett said she watched her addiction to alcohol and drugs nearly ruin her relationship with her children.

“I used to send them away for the weekend so I could use (drugs) and drink,” she said. “My daughter used to say that she wanted to be like me and wear the same clothes as me. But when she stopped looking up to me, I knew I needed help.”

Bennett is now preparing to leave the program she says has restored to her the ability to raise a family.

“My kids now know what alcohol and drug abuse is, and that it is a no-no,” she said. “My daughter is my little protector. . . . She always wants to know what is in my cup.”

Late last year, Bennett and her children were the first to enter the recovery program, which can last up to 180 days. They had the whole place to themselves during the first weeks.

The Heritage House facility is a complex of eight houses, each holding up to six residents who live a sober lifestyle with their children. County health care officials estimate that there are about 51,000 women in Orange County of childbearing age with a substance abuse habit.

Counselors at the facility say that women recovering from addiction have to learn the basics of raising a family, fiscal responsibility, interviewing for jobs, having fun--and doing all these things while sober.

In her third month of rehabilitation, Bennett attended a dance for recovering addicts and alcoholics.

“The first time I went to a sober dance, I couldn’t believe people could party sober,” she said. “I looked into everyone’s eyes to check and be sure.”

The morning after, she woke up feeling as though she had a hangover, although she had not touched a drop the night before.

“I just thought I should be hanging over,” Bennett recalled. “When the counselor said the headache was not real, it was just an emotional reaction, I said, ‘You’re right.’ ”

The facility now has nine women and their 10 children living on site and undergoing daily treatment. They are currently operating near capacity and have accumulated a waiting list of about 10 prospective residents.

Nancy Walker, program director at the facility, said that during the first 90 days of recovery, residents are taken through an intensive schedule of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings as well as on-site addiction counseling. They have to earn the privilege to go for a walk off the facility grounds and cannot receive phone calls in their private rooms.

In the second half, residents also focus on full recovery and preparation for entering the world as sober members of the community. They learn about family budgeting, applying for jobs and even grocery shopping.

“That is the field of dreams,” Walker said. “It is not easy to do all that in six months.”

Of the first 10 women to enter treatment in December and January, five remain. Others were unwilling to stay sober or failed to attend meetings and counseling sessions and were discharged. The Heritage House is not a locked facility so they cannot force residents to remain in treatment, officials there said. The recovery program--including food and lodging--is funded in large part by a $440,000 grant from the county. The remainder comes from residents ability to pay or from their government Aid to Families with Dependent Children money. In any case, no one is turned away because of lack of money.

Many of the women are referred to the program from the county jail system.

“This is another place to put these women. Otherwise they end up right back in jail and their kids go into a foster home,” Walker said.

Last year before setting up shop in Costa Mesa, program officials were prepared to purchase an old Victorian home in Orange and convert it. Protests from prospective neighbors and a City Council vote against the conversion prompted Heritage House officials to begin looking in Costa Mesa.

“This is perfect for us,” Walker said. The house is in a residential area across the street from Wilson Elementary School, where Dvon and Stephanie are enrolled.

Bennett said she now attends her children’s school functions and helps them with their homework.

“This is the first time I have done these things with them,” she said.

Now that Bennett has graduated from the program, she is preparing to move into a sober-living facility. She has a sharp-looking two-page resume and has been applying for jobs and registering for fall classes at Orange Coast College. She plans to major in psychology in preparation for a career in social work.

“I have options now,” she said. “That is the main thing--I have options.”