From the Streets: Magdalene House (15 images)
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![My name is Penny. I've been homeless since 1995. I got into some abusive relationships, got into drugs and alcohol, mostly alcohol. Well my mother, she died, so that took my place to live with her ,so I ended up livin' here and there and yonder the best I could. Then I went into treatment, and the program here and luckily I got accepted...I been drinkin' since I was - maybe eleven. You see my mom and daddy owned beer joints when I was a child and they took me to beer joints when we were four or five. I remember drinkin' maybe once every now and then but I wasn't an alcoholic then. When the bar closed and they were cleanin' up they'd say " you want a beer" and we'd say "yeah", we just thought we were big...When I was [prostituting] I had my regulars that would pick me up and I didn't walk the streets all that much. I got a few women into prostitution, like I'd get paid to get them tricks. It was just a hard life you know --chaos. Never know if you're gonna turn a corner and get shot or robbed, anything...I'm glad it's behind me, but they say never forget where you come from because you can always end up back there. We think about that last miserable moment and that keeps us from wanting to go back out there...When I first got [to the Magdalene House] it was like I was part of a family, like they'd been knowing me for years...we try to stick together and help one another.](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Fr4frfxkRp4/t/150/I0000Fr4frfxkRp4.jpg)
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![My name is Vickie. I was court ordered the Magdalene program. I really like it. It's a little strenuous but it's working. Some of [my past] is real hard to talk about, some of it we don't even remember. It's still under the surface..I've seen murder, I've seen rapes and beatings. I've been beat, I've been raped, I've also been exposed to the HIV virus that is now in the full blown. It's a little too much for me, but I'm trying to deal with it. I'm having a hard time because I feel like I'm not getting enough feedback on my HIV with my groups and stuff. That's the reason as to why I got into drugs because I ended up sick and it needs to be addressed together. The disease of addiction and my disease of the HIV needs to be addressed together because one comes with the other one...I know that I need to change me....I had just turned into a terrible person. If they can teach me how to reconstruct my way of thinking and living and dealing with everyday problems that I normally don't even think about...I had wanted to get some help...my daughter had started to get me into the Magdalene program while I was in jail...I was accepted...](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000AUhZo_x7iB4/t/150/I0000AUhZo_x7iB4.jpg)
williams.thistlefarms...jpg
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![My name is Vickie. I was court ordered the Magdalene program. I really like it. It's a little strenuous but it's working. Some of [my past] is real hard to talk about, some of it we don't even remember. It's still under the surface..I've seen murder, I've seen rapes and beatings. I've been beat, I've been raped, I've also been exposed to the HIV virus that is now in the full blown. It's a little too much for me, but I'm trying to deal with it. I'm having a hard time because I feel like I'm not getting enough feedback on my HIV with my groups and stuff. That's the reason as to why I got into drugs because I ended up sick and it needs to be addressed together. The disease of addiction and my disease of the HIV needs to be addressed together because one comes with the other one...I know that I need to change me....I had just turned into a terrible person. If they can teach me how to reconstruct my way of thinking and living and dealing with everyday problems that I normally don't even think about...I had wanted to get some help...my daughter had started to get me into the Magdalene program while I was in jail...I was accepted...](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000tQ3TGQu5Gfw/t/150/I0000tQ3TGQu5Gfw.jpg)
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![My name is Shelby. I was on the streets since November of '07. I've been in active addiction for 23 years now. My parents began using with me and introduced me to drugs. Heroin was my drug of choice, well, heroin and cocaine. I grew up in a very abusive home - lots of drugs and alcohol. I left home at 13...came back to Nashville when I was about 16 and I got pregnant when I was 17 with my first child. I was still using. I got pregnant with my second child when I was 21 and used all through that pregnancy, although these were prescription drugs. I was pretty much doctor shopping, getting doctors to agree with my physical needs during that time. My addiction has just progressed. For awhile I functioned. I had a home, I had a car, I had a family. I've prostituted, I've sold drugs, you know, I've done a lot of that. It did get to the point when I was living out of my car, I lost everything, I lost my children, and became incarcerated. I just didn't have anything left, not even the will to live. I heard about Magdalene and I kind of believed that they would give me a chance to get a life, show me how to live. No one has ever taught me how to live. My parents didn't really show me how to live...[Magdalene] is incredible. Every woman in here is like my family...Magdalene is nothing but a blessing for me.](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000OT7UOoM0RBU/t/150/I0000OT7UOoM0RBU.jpg)
williams.thistlefarms...jpg
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![My name is Katie. I was in the streets for five years and I had tried a halfway house, but it was a 90 day program and there wasn't any love and support in the program so that didn't work, I left. When I got out of jail I called and got on the waiting list [for the Magdalene House]. I felt so gone on the drugs I felt like I was losing my mind and I wanted to die. I kept calling and calling and calling and the Resident's Manager finally called me back and said "Katie we have a bed for you at the safe house if you would like to come until a bed is open at Magdalene." I ended up coming the next Wednesday so I've been up in Nashville for eight months now, so I'm eight months clean...The dope had beat me up. There's not even any words to explain how I felt. The streets will beat you up. The drugs, what I put myself through to get myself next hit - living hell...[Magdalene House] is really unexplainable, it's the love, the support, you know, they're not judgmental. They meet every woman where they're at. If you need dental work, they do that, if you need therapy, counseling, they do that. I think the main thing that keeps me there is the love...there's not another program like Magdalene.](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00002Q6qc2RiYAM/t/150/I00002Q6qc2RiYAM.jpg)
williams.thistlefarms...jpg
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![My name is Katie. I was in the streets for five years and I had tried a halfway house, but it was a 90 day program and there wasn't any love and support in the program so that didn't work, I left. When I got out of jail I called and got on the waiting list [for the Magdalene House]. I felt so gone on the drugs I felt like I was losing my mind and I wanted to die. I kept calling and calling and calling and the Resident's Manager finally called me back and said "Katie we have a bed for you at the safe house if you would like to come until a bed is open at Magdalene." I ended up coming the next Wednesday so I've been up in Nashville for eight months now, so I'm eight months clean...The dope had beat me up. There's not even any words to explain how I felt. The streets will beat you up. The drugs, what I put myself through to get myself next hit - living hell...[Magdalene House] is really unexplainable, it's the love, the support, you know, they're not judgmental. They meet every woman where they're at. If you need dental work, they do that, if you need therapy, counseling, they do that. I think the main thing that keeps me there is the love...there's not another program like Magdalene.](http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00000SzZsM8snsU/t/150/I00000SzZsM8snsU.jpg)
williams.thistlefarms...jpg
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williams.thistlefarms...jpg
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williams.thistlefarms...jpg