MANSFIELD, Ohio — When Candace Williams left Ohio for California in 2009 with her daughter and a convicted sex offender who had fled the Volunteers of America halfway house in Mansfield, her story made national news.
Williams, who was unaware of her fellow traveler’s conviction, accepted his invitation to travel out west because she saw that as an opportunity to acquire her “drug of choice,” methamphetamine.
“I was in my own little world,” and not concerned with the repercussions of her decisions, she said.
Unbeknownst to Williams, the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force led a nationwide manhunt for the three of them.
Williams was later charged with complicity to escape by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and was sentenced to three years in jail.
“That was national news for a year,” she recollected.
Since that time; however, she’s turned her life around and is eager to share her story of recovery. She desires to serve as a source of encouragement to those who have ever struggled with addiction and/or faced felony charges.
“Even if you have a felony, it doesn’t define you,” she said. “I’m proof that despite your felony, you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
Functioning addict
A Shelby High School graduate of 2003, Williams said she had to grow up much quicker than most kids her age. Born into a family of addicts, she helped raise her two younger brothers until she moved out of the house at the age of 16.
Though she didn’t start doing drugs until she was 21, she said, “I found out that I was an addict way before I thought that I was because as a teenager I always struggled with my weight and took a lot of diet pills, but I figured since they were legal there wasn’t an issue with them.”
At 20, she had a baby girl with her abusive boyfriend.
She moved to Arizona with her daughter to get away from her boyfriend, and it was there that she began using methamphetamine.
“I thought that was a miracle drug,” she said. A self-described “functioning addict,” she juggled work and school as a single mom and felt meth could help give her the energy she needed to keep up with the daily demands.
During a four-year period, she traveled back and forth from Arizona to Ohio. “I thought that if I did a geographical change that I could stop using,” she said. When she got to Ohio, she took pills like Adderall and Ritalin, “But they weren’t my drug of choice, so I always craved that drug of choice and I would want to go back to Arizona,” she said.
While she at first believed a geographical change could help her overcome her addiction, she noted, “Geographically, you can’t fix anything. The change has to come from within.”
Coming to terms
Williams struggled to admit she was an addict. “I never wanted to admit that I was an addict because that would mean I was like everyone else in my family,” she said.
Having dealt with traumatic experiences in the past, she saw drugs as a way to help numb her emotions.
But after serving a year-and-a-half in jail and then going to the Community Based Correctional Facility (CBCF) in Tiffin, “That’s when I finally admitted I was an addict,” she said.
Her instructor at CBCF told everyone in her class to write a goodbye letter to their drug of choice.
“We had to share it in front of the whole class and when I shared it, and every woman in the room was crying, that was like my ‘Aha moment.’ I realized I was an addict and it was my problem.”
She was introduced to different 12-step programs, which helped her discover her identity and give her the necessary tools to help her deal with her emotions, she said.
Her guidance counselor encouraged her to apply for a job before her six months were up at CBCF. She ended up getting a job as an STNA at Liberty Nursing Center in Mansfield, where she has been working for the past four years. This January, she became the facility’s activity director.
Giving to others what was given to her
Williams will celebrate her sixth year clean this May. Having been through the challenging road to recovery, she wants to “give to others what was given to me freely,” she said.
She does that by volunteering at correctional facilities, jails and rehab centers through Hospitals and Institutions (H&I). She shares her story with others to give them hope, noting, “I don’t care to tell people about my past, because that’s exactly what it is–it’s my past, and that’s where I leave it.”
It hasn’t been pure bliss. At times, she’s struggled emotionally when thinking of her daughter, who was adopted by a family when she was in jail.
“I’m just grateful that the family that she was put with is able to give her opportunities, stability and show her what a family is like,” she said. “I’ll never be able to repay them for that, even though it hurts me because I know that I’m at a point in my life today that I can take care of her and show her those things.”
She was married in 2013 to Charles Williams. The two currently reside in Mansfield.
While much progress has been made in terms of recovery, she still attends recovery meetings, is involved in a support group and has a sponsor with whom she keeps in close contact.
“I just know it’s a continuing process,” she said. “I’m never going to be perfect, but I know that if I quit working on myself through a 12-step program, all of the [progress] is going to go away.”
She plans on taking one day at a time and encouraging others as much as she can.
“I just want to give back to the community in the best way I know how, and the only way I know how is to give others hope,” she said.
Series: Road to Recovery
Mental health and substance abuse treatment combined with healthcare reform is helping some local residents along the Road to Recovery from addiction. In the series, Road to Recovery, Richland Source shares their stories in cooperation with the Richland County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board.
