Tonia

Since 2004, Tonia has lived in three Palladia residences and each time her life has improved. She became sober at Starhill, reconnected with her son at the Dreitzer Women and Children’s center and reunited with her three daughters at Stratford House. Throughout her 18 years of drug addiction, Tonia had lost control of her life, but it only took four years with Palladia for her to become both a stable parent and a college graduate.

In 2003, Tonia fled the shelter where she lived when her parole officer threatened to take her 11-month son away from her. For six months, she slept on trains and streets with the infant. When she was apprehended and returned to court, Tonia begged the judge for an inpatient program. She was sent to Starhill, where she resided for six months before moving on to the Alfred and Mildred Dreitzer Women and Children’s Center.

After months in foster care, her son had shut down emotionally and had trouble eating. Thanks to the support of Palladia’s child specialists, Tonia was able to reconnect with him and help him recover.

“Dreitzer taught me how to be a real parent,” she said. After graduating from the program, Tonia moved in 2005 to a three-bedroom apartment in Stratford House with her son and three daughters, ages 6, 10 and 13. At this 60-unit supportive housing complex in the Bronx, residents have access to on-site social services such as case management, family counseling and vocational assistance. Children ages 18 months to five years attend the Early Learning Center, where Tonia’s son spent two years.

“If you are reuniting with your family, Stratford is the place to be,” she says. “You learn to pay the bills and be a parent…I thank God for Stratford.”

The stable housing, coupled with her new role as a parent, gave Tonia the motivation and confidence she needed to go back to school. She recently graduated with honors from Plaza College in Queens, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Her high GPA earned her a scholarship from the New York State Department of Education.

Since her recovery, Tonia has become a role model rather than a source of anxiety to her children.

“It’s a beautiful thing to be with my kids,” she says. “I never thought it would be that good to be a parent.”

Story courtesy of Palladia

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