Friday, March 27, 2015
The Journey of Recovery is not always easy.
Leialoha is making progress on her journey. Before the Oasis she was in the news is much different light. Marianas Variety reported the case this way. KUAM was even more graphic Little by little we are seeing good things happen for both Leialoha and her husband Sterling. Everyday they are working in jobs we sponsor through the Dream Project. Leialoha set up Proshine business which is a family business done mainly by her husband and brother-in-law. A couple more days each week she is selling Chili Dogs to customers at the Oasis. Hope is building and opportunities continue to open up.
The promise of Jesus is that He makes all things new. Restoration does not ignore our faults but courageously faces them boldly and makes changes that are required to live differently.
Please pray for this family that the wounds of the past will be healed fully.
Sunday the GUAMPDN added this article:
When LeiAloha Crisostomo, 34, first tried methamphetamine, she said she was young and going through an experimental phase. "I started when I was 19 and it just progressed to being habitual," she said.
Her habitual drug use eventually led her to lose custody of her five children after both she and her husband, Sterling Alika Crisostomo, were charged with child abuse in September. The case is ongoing.
LeiAloha Crisostomo was one of about three dozen people Thursday who celebrated milestones on their journeys to recovery at Oasis Empowerment Center.
The empowerment center, founded in 2004, provides counseling and support services to help people overcome their addictions and get out of their negative situations. It also offers training to help clients find employment after leaving a program. LeiAloha Crisostomo on Thursday celebrated six months of sobriety.
Downward spiral
In the middle of last year, after close to 15 years of on-and-off drug use, LeiAloha Crisostomo said that's when her addiction started to spiral out of control. She lost her job and became homeless, she said. Allegations of child abuse arose after her eldest daughter reportedly contacted family members in the mainland asking for food. The girl had told authorities that she and her four siblings would "eat it spoiled because they were hungry," court documents state.
David Camacho Jr., Sterling Crisostomo's brother-in-law, filed the report with police. The couple was indicted in September on allegations of felony child abuse, misdemeanor child abuse and failure to provide as a misdemeanor, according to news files. The indictment accuses the couple of endangering the welfare of their five children, news files state. Courts imposed a stay on the couple from seeing their children, ages 4 to 14, pending approval from Child Protective Services, news files state. The stay was lifted in late December pending approval from Child Protective Services. Superior Court of Guam Judge James Canto also lifted the stay between the husband and wife, which allowed them to talk and see each other, as well as contact Camacho, news files state. LeiAloha Crisostomo said she and her husband were granted custody of their youngest child in February. The couple will have to prove they are capable of providing a safe home environment for their children before CPS grants them custody of all five, LeiAloha Crisostomo said.
"CPS said the only thing holding us back is just a stable home," she said. LeiAloha Crisostomo said they both completed parenting classes and are on the path toward recovery. Sterling Crisostomo is currently enrolled in a rehabilitation program at Lighthouse Recovery Center, a program provided by the Salvation Army. Lighthouse helps homeless men with substance abuse issues recover and become productive members of their family and the community, according to the organization's website. "Since we've been in the programs, we've never tested positive; we've never used drugs," Sterling Crisostomo said.
Challenges
For LeiAloha, the most challenging part of the recovery process was admitting she had a problem and needed treatment.
"I came into Oasis thinking that I didn't have a problem and that I can do it on my own, but I was wrong," she said. "I was really wrong." She said those struggling with substance abuse should "take it one day at a time and really just give it to God." Sterling Crisostomo said his run with methamphetamine started after his mom died when he was just 11 years old and living in Hawaii. "That was the first drug I tried," he said.
He said he eventually met and married LeiAloha Crisostomo and tried to keep it away from his family life. "I got married, and I tried not to have it be a part of my family," he said. The Lighthouse recovery program helped him gain awareness of the different triggers to his drug use, he said.
"I'm aware of potential dangers, what to stay away from and who to stay away from," he said. "The program for me is a really good program." He will be finishing his program in a few weeks, he said, and will work to remain drug-free.
Sterling Crisostomo said both he and his wife are hoping to have a retrial and that the charges against them will be dismissed. "I don't know how these accusations came up," he said. He said the allegations are false. Sterling Crisostomo said his daughter was having a conversation with his sister-in-law and had asked her to send food from the states.
His sister-in-law replied saying it would be spoiled by the time it arrived in Guam, he said. He said his daughter jokingly replied she would still like the food. "Anyone that really knows me knows my kids were never neglected, even though I struggled with drugs," he said. He said whether or not the case goes through a retrial isn't of importance. "What's important is getting my family back and living a drug-free and productive life," Sterling Crisostomo said.
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