Document text
Krista and Gail Gillich will spend Thanksgiving together. Addicts' daughter turns life around Former homeless girl turns in folks; now attends college By Dani Dodge of the Medford Mail Tribune ASHLAND -- Krista Gillich has every reason to be bitter. Her mother and father were heroin addicts. As a teen, she was homeless and sometimes hungry. Eventually, she turned her parents in to police. But now the 20-year-old is getting good grades at Southern Oregon University, where she is studying psychology. She reconciled with her father before his death from lung cancer in June. Her mother has been clean and sober for 2 1/2 years. The youngest member of the board of directors at Community Works, Gillich has an unlimited future. "My faith was in Jesus that he would provide me the things I needed," Gillich said. "People like those at Community Works didn't give me a handout, but instead gave me the skills to earn what I want." Krista, 20, relaxes in her dorm room at Southern Oregon University. The psychology major has overcome huge obstacles to find success. Today, Krista and her mother, Gail, are sharing a Thanksgiving turkey with Gail's friends from Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous. They hope that Krista's younger sister will join them. They have much to be thankful for. Bitterness isn't on the menu. The family's road has been far from smooth. Before Krista was born, both parents had committed themselves to staying sober. They had good jobs. A nice house. But Tom Gillich worked in the freewheeling world of music concerts. Drugs were prevalent and easily available. The couple eventually succumbed. The successful facade crumbled slowly as Tom and Gail Gillich fed a $200-a-day heroin habit while still trying to attend PTA and get their girls to Brownies. "We were functioning addicts," Gail said. "I was responsible for 120 people on a weekly payroll. "But I wouldn't go to bed at night unless I knew I had a fix ready for the morning." Tom and Gail Gillich tried for years to hide their addiction from their two daughters. They made numerous forays into failed treatment. They moved from one home in California to another hoping to outrun the monster of their addiction that threatened to devour everything they were trying to build. Growing up, Krista Gillich thought her life was normal. Only later, after years of therapy, did she start to remember the oddities. "I would forget about seeing needles around the house," she said. "I forgot about the fighting." The family described the moves simply as a desire to find better places for their daughters. "They lost our house in California," Krista Gillich said. "Our cars were sold. We moved to Oregon so they could start a new life." The family moved in with some life-long friends, who were members of the Ruch Community Bible Church. "They moved up here to get a better way of life, but ... would UPS their drugs up here," said Ron McKay, the pastor of the church. "Even though they told their friends they weren't doing it, they still were doing it. "Like most people they had to hit bottom, but it was much lower than we ever imagined it." Tom and Gail Gillich eventually confessed their addiction to their daughters and their friends, and sought help. The girls, aged 14 and 12, went to live with church members and at church camp for a few months. "That's when we were first introduced to couch-hopping," Krista said -- sleeping on other people's sofas. But even with the admission and getting their daughters back home, the couple continued their downward spiral. Krista, seeing evidence of their drug abuse, took her little sister and ran away from home for the first time when she was 14 and her sister was 12."I didn't want to put up with it," she said. The drugs continued and Krista and her sister moved in with another couple from church the day before Krista began high school. Her parents lost the trailer they had been renting and started living in their car. The couple began a routine that included going in and out of jail as they supported their drug habit with illegal activity. After she turned 16, Krista was accepted into Community Works' transitional living program. The program helps homeless kids 16 and older learn to live on their own. Krista lived with a host family and took classes on life skills. Krista's sister went to live with some friends. While Krista was living with a host family, her father went into jail on a probation violation because of drugs. He told her she could use the car while he was behind bars. "My dad said if I took the car to make sure to get the drugs out of the trunk," she remembers. Instead, she led police to the car where drug-sniffing dogs discovered a box of heroin and drug paraphernalia. "My parents were so mad at me, I could elope to Vegas and they would in no way be so mad," Krista Gillich said. Gail Gillich admits she was angry when she learned her daughter had turned them in, but that anger eventually turned into respect. Especially after she was getting treatment for her addiction in prison. "I was happy she had enough savvy to know the difference between good and bad," Gail Gillich said. "God took her little hand and said you need to do this." Yet, life still was no picnic for Krista. "She was struggling in high school because she worked so much and was tired a lot," said Sherry Jones, case manager for transitional living. "She didn't have time for fun things and school was difficult because she was sandwiching in her home and work." Still, she got through school, living in her own apartment while she finished her senior year. Now she attends SOU and lives in the dorms. As the youngest board member of Community Works, Krista Gillich regularly gives talks to community groups about her experiences. "Part of what has happened to her in the last couple of years is she has been one of those persons who could take personal responsibility for herself in a forthright and honorable way," Jones said. Jones said one reason Krista has been able to overcome her situation is that she was blessed with parents who, though dysfunctional, never held back their love for their daughters. "These girls have always been loved and that's such an important thing," she said. "It's part of the basis of self-esteem. A person esteemed by their parents can be esteemed by themselves. And that's part of the reason Krista is successful and her sister will be as well." Gail credits one thing with her family's ability to survive. "I think God was watching over us," she said. "And I think he always will." Although he recognized the family still has a ways to go, Pastor McKay noted: "They've come a long way from the depths of hell." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA