“Today I have a purpose,” says DeAnnah Green, 48. “I’ve never had a purpose, a dream, a goal. Now I have a lot of people behind me rooting me on instead of pulling me down.”
DeAnnah talks about her life from her new digs at the 24-Hour Club in Dallas. But this is hardly the kind of “club” that may come to mind. The “Two-Four”, as residents call it, offers transitional housing and all-around support for people fighting addiction and seeking a fresh start. DeAnnah, battled a substance use disorder for 20s, came to know the Two-Four after she found herself in Resolana, a special unit within the Dallas County Jail that offers justice impacted women training and skills to permanently step out of their old way of life. The unit is a program of Volunteers of America Texas and has fostered ties with other area programs that last long beyond an inmate’s time in jail, programs like the 24-hour Club.
Jail had been a revolving door for DeAnnah. In 2017, however, she faced a possible 25 years for manufacturing and delivery of drugs. With so much time on the line, she began looking for any program she could get into. Resolana accepted her. She was there for 16 months, after which she received probation and was set free.
Unfortunately, toxic relationships took her back to drugs. Yet Resolana was there for her when she went back to jail—facing the possible 25 years again. This time was different. “I don’t know what clicked but whatever goes on in that program, I know they really care about us and want to help,” she said. DeAnnah got a break in court. She was sentenced to five years at a prison that is also a treatment facility.
This time it took. She came out and went straight into the Two-Four with its myriad programs and support options. But she doesn’t consider this just a lucky break. “I don’t believe in luck,” DeAnnah says. “This is all God. Court is not luck. You don’t face 25, get five and go to rehab.”
Through all of this, DeAnnah, admittedly high-strung, someone who never had anyone to truly care about her, found what she needed. No more toxic relationships to sabotage her progress. Instead, she is living an authentic life in which she can love herself. The good of Resolana and the Two-Four, she says, is that she can simply be herself. She has volunteered for Resolana Coordinator Lesley Mohney, helping with administrative work, preparing folders, papers, and mentoring others by encouraging them to complete the rehabilitation work at hand.
“I’m learning things I like to do,” DeAnnah says. “I like being sober.” She’s looking forward to and sees herself going back to school. She would like to become a safety inspector for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA.) But her ultimate dream is even bigger: “I want to help women in recovery in a setting like I’m in now.”
“This whole time, I was just living to die. Now I’m dying to live,” she says.