Volume 4, Number 2 - Spring 2006
Stories Come Alive for
Germantown Women ion Recovery
by Andee
Hochman
Behind the doors of an unobtrusive twin house in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, women are learning to live without drugs. Womanspace is a residential treatment and behavior-modification program for women with histories of substance abuse. Most are court-mandated to the program, which lasts four to six months, though 10-20 percent of participants refer themselves.
Chris Hill, a participant-turned-coordinator of People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos, says he loves leading groups at Womanspace. “Every session I have led there has been more fulfilling than the last.
“The women truly enjoy the sessions and express that enjoyment with insightful, articulate, heartfelt questions and responses. I could not imagine a better place for People & Stories, or for me.”
On a recent evening, women gathered on the mismatched couches to talk about their expectations of the program, the surprises it has brought and the lasting impact it has had on their lives.
Meltonia: I thought People & Stories would be very boring. But it turned out to be totally different.
Sherkeena: I thought it would be a professor from a college.
Stacey: The first week I was here, they said, ‘The storyteller’s coming.’ I thought: How corny is that? But Chris…is not here to grade us. If we don’t like the story, it’s not going to hurt his feelings. My favorite story was ‘The Man Who Found You in the Woods’ [by Catharine Ryan Hyde] because of the love the man had for the kid, even after all those years, even though he had no blood connections with him. You don’t find that much, even with your own parents. When we read, ‘A Child of Crack,’ [by Michele Norris], I thought: That could have been my children living like that.
Sherkeena: I liked ‘Thank You, M’am’ [by Langston Hughes]. The older woman showed the little boy that worse things could have happened to him; she showed him he could have a better life.
Rosa: The way Chris reads the stories, he brings them to life. It’s like a play, like it’s real…
Meltonia: It’s like you’re there. When he finishes the story, he leaves you ready to express yourself. You get into it, and you look forward to the next time he comes. I remember ‘You Are What You Own’ [by Alice Adams]. I almost had tears in my eyes. All her life, the woman stayed with this man. At the end, she finally got courage to break free. She wanted to be herself and get to know herself. She got enough courage to take a chance in life. I was very touched by that.
Rosa: Some of the titles we’ve read here—before, I would have looked at them and not picked them up. Now, I’d take the chance. This class has taught me to broaden my horizons. And it’s so cool to hear each other’s perspectives.
Meltonia: Even after this group is over, I have sometimes repeated the story to myself. I’ve gone over it, thinking: What am I missing?…There have been times, after this group is over, when e stand on the front porch and converse about the stories. We may come up with something new, something we missed. That’s how we learn.