Demetress Washington’s mom abandoned her when she was twelve years old. Demetress became addicted to drugs and it took her years to get clean. While in a recovery home she heard about a program called Cara that offered job training and placement. One of her supervisors there was Jesse Teverbaugh. The two came to StoryCorps earlier this year and talked about the new start Demetress created for herself.

This story was produced through a partnership between StoryCorps and the Cara Program. StoryCorps’ Anne Ford co-produced this piece.

StoryCorps’ mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to share, record and preserve their stories. These excerpts, edited by WBEZ, present some of our favorites from the current visit, as well as from previous trips.