Camarillo, Calif., Jan. 26, 2015 –Addicted and incarcerated, Natasha Williams just wanted to die.
“All I could do was use and plan my death,” said Williams, 35.
Teresa Failauga, 31, was also an addicted new mother. She gave birth to her son in jail, and immediately lost custody of him.
Less than a year later, both women are clean and sober after several months at an Oxnard residential treatment center for women called Prototypes.
In an effort to support women in recovery like Williams and Failauga, CSU Channel Islands (CI)’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE) will be volunteering at Prototypes on Friday, Jan. 30—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day of Service.
CI’s Intercultural Services and the staff of Project ISLAS will also be on site for the MLK Day of Service.
The CCE “adopted” Prototypes during the United Way Day of Caring in fall of 2014, which means CCE will be concentrating its volunteer efforts on Prototypes for all of the national days of service in 2015.
“This is the first year to adopt an organization and be able to concentrate all our days of service on one site and build a strong partnership with them,” said Center for Community Engagement Managing Director Pilar Pacheco.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 30, about 35 student, faculty and staff volunteers will paint; do arts and crafts with children; garden; clear brush and hold a workshop on how to get to college.
The director of Prototypes in Oxnard, Vel Linden, said any help maintaining the multi-storied 1898 house is welcome. Many of the children of the mothers in recovery stay and play on the 3 ½ acres, so there is a lot of upkeep.
CI creative writing major and volunteer Ashley Medina, 22, will be among those lending a hand on Jan. 30.
“I’m a big believer in rehabilitation, even if I can help with something as simple as doing groundwork,” Medina said.
Medina was raised by a single mother who benefited from the kindness of others when times got tough, so she believes in volunteerism.
Project ISLAS staff educate community members on how to get to college, which Linden believes will be valuable information to women at Prototypes.
“A lot of women come and feel their story is already written,” said Linden, who attended CI during its first year. “A lot of them don’t think they can go to college.”
Besides regaining custody of their children, Williams and Failauga plan to pass their General Educational Development (GED) tests, then attend college to become addiction counselors themselves.
“I love the way I am now,” Failauga said.
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