Rising above life of drugs, prostitution

A Youngstown woman now wants to help others fight drugs and abuse.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
N MID-APRIL, ROCHELLE COPELAND stood before an audience of dozens to receive an award for being named to a list of people who have accomplished inspirational life changes.
Copeland's journey to the lectern in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Social Hall was much longer than the walk from her seat. It started more than 10 years ago and has taken the 35-year-old woman through drug addiction, prostitution, numerous arrests, a violently abusive relationship and finally into the programs that would change her life.
Copeland, a native of Youngstown, was reared in a stable foster family after the death of her mother shortly after she was born. By her own account, she enjoyed a normal childhood through graduation from East High School in 1986.
When she was 21, Copeland, who was working full time and maintaining her own home, was introduced to cocaine by a boyfriend. That introduction slowly turned into a regular habit.
"I started using the drugs as a means of pacifying unresolved issues within myself," she said. "It was just a means of escape."
Addiction
Copeland says before long she was addicted to the cocaine -- an addiction that quickly moved to crack cocaine. At that time, she said, the addiction did not seem that bad because she would surround herself with boyfriends and friends involved in the drug life, meaning that her needs were often fulfilled free of charge.
That all would soon come to an end.
Eventually, the dealing boyfriends -- and free drugs that came with them -- went away. The addiction, however, stayed and Copeland needed a way to supply herself with drugs. She would sometimes need as much as $200 a day to feed the habit.
"You just don't think," she recalls. "You feel like you don't have a choice. All that matters to you is finding a way to get more drugs no matter what it takes."
Copeland says she resorted to prostitution in order to make enough money to buy drugs. Spending nights walking the streets of the city put Copeland in situations that could have cost her life.
Frightening event
She recalls one instance when she got into a car with two men who took her to a home on the outskirts of the area. Once inside the home, Copeland, who is black, was confronted by several other men and drawings of swastikas on the walls.
Copeland said the men pulled out guns and threatened to kill her. She was assaulted and threatened for several hours before the men put her back in the car and dropped her off on a side street on the city South Side.
Copeland said she was upset and, with a record of more than 20 run-ins with the law, too terrified to go to the police, "but, that didn't stop me from going back out there [as a prostitute]." She had to find money for drugs.
According to Copeland her situation became more bleak when she started a relationship rife with domestic violence. She said what started as a friendship turned into a relationship mixed with mutual drug use and mental and physical abuse.
Copeland recalls one instance when her boyfriend bound her hands, dragged her to the basement of his home where he poured water over her body and administered electric shocks via a frayed electrical cord. He was later arrested.
The cycle of abuse and drug use continued for several more years until she was arrested on the north side of the city with drugs in her possession. Copeland said a pregnancy test given at the jail showed she was again pregnant -- she had already given custody of one child over to his father and three others had been adopted.
Vows to change
"I sat there and took a long look at myself and decided that I can't do this anymore. I was not going to give up another child. I was going to have this baby and stay clean," she said.
That was 18 months ago. Copeland said she has not used a single drug during that time and the man who once beat her regularly is also a thing of the past.
Home in the city
Copeland now has a home in the city and has rekindled a relationship with her 15-year-old son whom she had not seen in 10 years. Her adopted children have also visited. She attends drug court in Youngstown weekly and is set to graduate from the program in July. She is also looking into taking classes to become a counselor for those fighting a drug addiction or abusive situation.
Looking back on those years spent taking drugs, Copeland says she is thankful to God to be alive. She is also grateful to the same people she spent years trying to avoid -- a list of police officers and judges. She says they are now a huge support to her in the ongoing recovery process.
"Recovery is something I have dedicated my life to. It will be an ongoing process," she said. "I hope I can help even one person with my story. People should know that no situation is so bad that you can't come to the other side. It's never too late to change your life. You just have to want to do it."
jgoodwin@vindy.com