Ice addicts turn to Jazzercise
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
For an "ice" addict who wants to get off drugs, the hardest part is often not to stop using, but to stay clean and sober, according to Claire Woods, executive director of Women's Way, a Salvation Army residential treatment program for young mothers.
Woods said there are many paths to sobriety and Women's Way for years has worked to give addicted women the support and life skills needed to live a normal life. But they recently found a new tool that seems to make a major difference for many of its clients — Jazzercise.
"It is such a powerful thing to see what this has done for these women," Woods said. "Now they are feeling better, some quit smoking. One of the critical pieces to recovery is to have a healthy outlet for stress and stress management."
Woods said most women who enter the program are coming directly from prison or are sent there by drug court or Child Welfare Services and are inactive and withdrawn. Seeing those same women jumping up and down, yelling and clapping their hands, is incredible, she said.
"It's hysterical. They are screaming and dancing," she said. "There is no one way to achieve sobriety and there is no one way to sustain it. That is where exercise comes in."
Jazzercise is a dance-fitness program designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength and flexibility.
Jazzercise was introduced to Women's Way by former state lawmaker Mindy Jaffe, who volunteered to teach the program once a week for about six months last year. Before that, staff members were providing simple exercise classes as best they could.
Woods said the clients liked Jazzercise so much and the positive results were so evident, she went out and found a $5,000 grant to hire Jaffe to continue teaching on a contract basis twice a week.
"When they get off drugs they start to gain weight, which really gets them depressed," said Jaffe, who has been teaching Jazzercise since 1980. "Even though it was just one day a week, we really noticed they loved it. This is just about the only kind of positive physical experience they've had. They worked really hard and the staff saw a lot of changes in them — physical and emotional."
Jaffe said feeling better about themselves has given the women pride in how they look and feel for the first time in years.
"When they get off drugs and are clean and sober the world opens up to them," Jaffe said. "They are so happy and excited about the future and these are women who never thought about the future beyond getting their next fix."
Margaret Watson, 29, is a recent graduate of the Women's Way program. Watson used ice — or crystal methamphetamine — for 18 years, spent seven years in prison and went through five other recovery programs before winding up at Women's Way.
"Never have I been to a program that has exercise," Watson said. "I got a chance to work on my outside as well as my inside, and that's what I did."
Watson said she lost 23 pounds since taking the exercise class and Jazzercise, which have lifted her self-esteem and reduced her need for drugs.
"We get up and motivate ourselves and support each other," she said. "I think it is a big part of us not doing drugs. I don't want to do drugs, but it's very hard."
Woods said the Salvation Army has secured additional grant money to continue the program through June and is compiling statistics on the health, fitness and sobriety of the clients to justify future financial support.
Jaffe hopes to expand Jazzercise into other treatment programs and even into the women's prison to give other ice addicts the benefits of the program.
"To me, this is like a silver bullet for drug treatment for women," she said. "It's amazing to me that nobody ever thought of this. If you have a drug addiction you need some help. Just sitting there in prison is not going to do it for you."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
