Been There, and Knows the Way Back

After two years in prison, Debra Kelsey returned to Orange County with nothing but $200, the heroin addiction that had twice put her behind bars -- and a resolve to turn her life around.

Three years of struggle later, the 43-year-old is a drug and alcohol counselor living in a spacious Irvine apartment. Now Kelsey is trying to ease the strain other women face upon their release from prison.

She is working with Catholic Charities of Orange County to open by next spring a home where parolees can undergo addiction treatment and learn personal and job skills. The organization has developed a plan and is seeking donations to open the center, christened Pathways.

“Everything I did I had to go and get myself,” Kelsey said. “I want to bring these services to women in a place where we can keep their stress levels down and their motivation up.”

Officials with Catholic Charities said they plan to rent a home for the first year while renovating the center’s permanent home at an as-yet-undisclosed location. They plan to house 12 to 20 women initially and 50 to 60 in the permanent center. But they expect complaints about opening a home for parolees.

“It’s not a popular cause for us to take on,” said Catholic Charities legal advisor Lisa Ramirez.

“But this population has a tremendous need, and we’re willing to meet those gaps even if no one else wants to.”

About 95% of those in prison are eventually released, and about 75% are convicted again. Giving released prisoners life skills will help stem recidivism and make communities safer, Ramirez said.

“If they’re not prepared to succeed in life, they’re inevitably going to do the one thing they know how to do, which is break the law,” she said. “We’re not doing ourselves any favors by just continuing to lock people up and let them out.”

Eventually, said Ramirez, centers will be opened for men being released from jail. The first facility, however, will serve only women who were Orange County residents and who are being released from prison. Women will live there from six months to a year.

Some will stay longer, depending on their needs, although none will be allowed to stay indefinitely, Ramirez said.

Children will not live at the site, but visitation and parenting classes will be encouraged, said Ramirez, who met Kelsey while volunteering through a county program that matches parolees and lawyers.

Plans include such business enterprises as a culinary institute that will teach women to be professional cooks and bring income to the center. Women will learn skills that allow them to earn a living wage rather than minimum wage, Ramirez said.

“A minimum-wage job will not enable a woman to break out of the cycle,” she said.

For Kelsey, motivating herself was the key to her conversion.

Her heroin addiction started when she was 12 and reached a peak two decades later when she left her husband and three children and spent five years living under a Santa Ana bridge.

Sitting on a couch in her Irvine apartment, gazing at vintage travel posters, she said her success is evidence that she chose the right path. She has reconciled with her children and is on good terms with her ex-husband.

“I sit here every day amazed at how far I’ve managed to come,” she said one evening after work. “I was just so tired of living that other way. Now that I’ve survived, it’s my turn to help others.”

For more information about Pathways or to make a donation, call (714) 347-9680.