Houston tries prostitute rehab instead of jail
HOUSTON (AP) — Tricia Chambers began her life heavily dependent on heroin and methadone. From there, she was peddled into child pornography, and by 9 she had a full-fledged career in prostitution, alongside her mother.
Now 42, Chambers is getting what she believes to be her first real chance — in a downtown Houston cellblock.
There, in stark contrast to Chambers and the other orange-clad inmates, is Kathryn Griffin Grinan — a former prostitute who now dons a business suit and heels as she transforms her nonprofit, We've Been There Done That, into a taxpayer-funded program that is teaming up with law enforcement and the court system to reform these women.
"You can be healed from this. You just got to be ready and want to," Griffin said, recalling how she went from being a college student to the lowest of street walkers. "We just prostitutes ... nobody cares about us. Well, because I was there and I felt that same way and I broke it, I knew that I could share it and break it in others."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/houston-tries-prostitute-rehab-instead-jail