Freedom from Addiction: Part 1

ROCKVILLE, Ind. (WTHI) - In many prisons, 25 or even 50 percent of the inmates will commit crimes and return to prison. However, a Wabash Valley prison is working with long-time addicts to make sure they don't come back.

The Rockville Correctional Facility is fighting the war on drugs inside the prison walls. The C.L.I.F.F. program (Clean Living is Freedom Forever) is a specialized, intensive nine-month rehab program. It's also one of the most successful prison rehabs in the country.

Every woman in prison has a story and Leanna and Annie's are no different than anyone else in the C.L.I.F.F. program.

"When I was out there in my addiction, I chose death," Leanna, a recovering cocaine addict, said. "I've overdosed several times."

"I was staying on the streets," Annie, another recovering heroin addict, said. "Full-blown addict, I mean, I was the worst, I did it all."

From the dim, desperate corners of prison to the C.L.I.F.F. dorm you can definitely tell a difference. In the elite prison drug dorm, there are splashes of color, coupled with inspirational words, you wouldn't know it houses some of the worst drug addicts.

Leanna spends most of her time in therapy with her peers but soon she's be back on the outside, struggling to stay sober.

"I have to be able to cope with being able to go past a liquor store," Leanna said. "I have to be able to cope with my family and set boundaries that are still in their addiction."

This isn't Leanna's first time in prison but she said it's her last.

"Today, I have goals, plans for my future, I have hope and I can look at myself in the mirror and like the person I see, I love myself," Leanna said.

While Leanna plans for her new future, Annie is concentrating on her new journey to recovery. Looking at Annie you'd never know the young mother's dark struggle with heroin.

"I was so unhealthy in every way, I was almost dead, my spirit was dead," Annie said. "You gotta fill it with good stuff so you don't feel like there's an emptiness."

Annie's found her own way to fill the darkness by getting her body healthy and her spirit.

Annie and Leanna are two very different women who share one great fear: Relapsing and returning to prison.

The inmates are putting their hope into the program, hoping to stay sober, hoping to stay out of prison. Statistically, their chances are good, out of a dozen women, only one will return to prison.

The success of C.L.I.F.F. is written all over the walls, women paint murals, showcasing their own hopes for the future. It doesn't look like prison, but for many of the women it may be their last chance for survival.

"You do have a second chance, prison has saved my life," Leanna said.

Meanwhile, Annie continues her recovery hoping for a better life and to be a better mother.

Leanna is expected to be released from prison this month. She plans on attending college.

As for Annie she's still serving time, writing songs and poetry, some of which are being published.