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Synopsis
Moms Living Clean
chronicles three years in the lives of six women in a women and childrens residential
treatment center in San Rafael, California. The drug of choice for all
of these women is methamphetamine. Filmed on location, Moms Living Clean traces the womens
progress through the six month residential program, the transitional housing phase where
they can live for two years and as they re-enter the community. The film follows them as they undergo dramatic transformation. The
women work to stay clean, set goals, learn parenting skills and become
self-sufficient. Interwoven with these personal stories are drug
policies that impact pregnant and parenting women. We meet:
Rachel, 22, is in the
kitchen talking about how she first tried drugs when her father gave them to her when she
was 11. As a teenager, her home was a haven for drug addicts run by her uncle, where
they watched her all the time. Later, we see her with her two young daughters in
high chairs giving them lunch. The oldest is one-and-a-half years old and has
attention problems. Her youngest is ten months. She entered the program when
Child Protective Services became involved when she was homeless after leaving her abusive boyfriend.

Lisa S., 41, sits by a window in the main room of her unit with her 2 month old
daughter peacefully asleep in her lap. She has spent seven of the past nine years in and
out of prison for drug sales, forgery and weapons charges. She discovered she was pregnant
when she was arrested for violating her parole by testing positive for drugs. She gave
birth to her clean baby daughter while living at the residential treatment center.
Leslie,
31, sits in the common area of her unit the white kitchen behind her. As she reveals what
brought her to Center Point, she washes, dries and puts away the last of the lunch dishes.
She left Hawaii, where she lived for seven years, after pressing charges against her
violent boyfriend. She was doing online prostitution before coming to the residential
program. Her three-and-a-half year old half-Native Hawaiian daughter is currently living
with her parents. Born in California, Leslie was adopted at birth.

Julia, 24, spoon-feeds her five month old son perched in a car seat on the
kitchen table, over her emotional recollection of how she almost lost him when he tested
tox positive for marijuana. Her primary drug of choice is
methamphetamine. She is very grateful to the people at Center Point for helping her regain
physical custody of her son. She must now follow a case plan for legal
custody. Her aunt raised her, because her mother had a drug problem. She
doesnt want the same thing to happen to her son.
Krista, 27, sits on
the burgundy bed spread with the door open to the hallway behind her. She became hooked on
methamphetamine on her 19th birthday. Her uncle gave it to her, so they could finish
painting her grandmothers house. She vacuums the living area by the sliding glass
door, as she talks about her eight-year-old daughter who lives with her father, and that
she entered the residential center after her newborn son tested positive for drugs. She is
counting the days to when she can have her son with her once again.

Lisa R., 38, returned to the residential treatment center, when she relapsed
after three years of staying clean. Her seven-and-a-half year old daughter lives with her
father. Her three-and-a-half year old daughter lives with her at the residence. Lisa
was diagnosed with ADD and told herself she needed drugs to get things done. For her, meth
was "love at first feel."
Over the course of three years, we witness the women develop a
feeling of pride, integrity, empathy, anger management skills and confidence.
Moms Living Clean combats the social
stigma that mothers on drugs are lost to society forever by illuminating how a supportive
constructive environment can help women overcome lifes adversities to claim their
dignity and self-worth. Themes explored in the film are substance abuse, domestic
violence, self-empowerment, motherhood and family.
As we learn about updates on the six women, Dr. Taylor gives
us her definition of success:
"I have a 100% success rate, because as long as
theyre with me, theyre clean, theyre living a happy life and they are
with their children. And that is success. I equate long term success with family
reunification and the self-esteem enhancement that were able to provide for our
women, who perhaps have never worked in their lives, perhaps are third generation
recipients of public benefits. We attribute that to instilling a value system
that
starts with hope and has a lot of love attached to it. We believe that there is goodness
in our clients when they dont believe theyre worth too much. And since we
believe in them, they begin to slowly believe in themselves. And when they believe in
themselves there is empowerment."
Please contact us at: 415.564.3691 or
momslivingclean@att.net
if you or your group would like to host a fundraising screening.
(c) 2009 Sheila Ganz
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