Wine Country Times

Life is rarely easy, and Elizabeth Quiroz knew hers wouldn’t get easier if she stayed on the streets.

Quiroz came to Sonoma County to serve a five-year jail term, essentially closing the door on the life she was accustomed to.

“I had to say goodbye to my street family and the Elizabeth I used to know,” she told the Wine Country Times.

| All photos provided by Quiroz

Quiroz’s time behind bars turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She made the best of it by getting an education and seeking therapy. Her rehabilitation would eventually lead her to the Women’s Recovery Services (WRS) program, and ultimately, her current position as the co-founder of Redemption House.

“While incarcerated, I received my G.E.D. and completed Starting Point (an in-custody treatment program),” Quiroz recounted to the Wine Country Times. “Before I was released, the counselors in Starting Point encouraged me to stay in Sonoma County and get myself into Women's Recovery Services upon release to get more healing around my trauma.”

Close to rejoining society, Quiroz was determined to improve her life.

“At this point, I was desperate for change,” she said. “I became sick and tired of giving years of my life to the streets. Making the decision to enter treatment was scary and challenging but I was willing to try something different.”

Quiroz credits joining WRS in May 2013 as a move that turned her life around.

Established in Sonoma County in 1975, WRS lends a helping hand to families who are hurting from a mother’s addiction. WRS’s goal is to break the cycle of addiction for women in a safe and healthy setting, helping neglected children get their mothers back, and allowing them to live together while learning the life skills necessary to become responsible community members.

WRS says it doesn’t turn women caring for infants and young children away, and offers a 120-day residential program for pregnant and parenting women as well as their children.

The children are cared for on-site and attend nearby community schools while their mothers attend recovery groups and classes.

According to Quiroz, the program provided her with the tools to overcome her family’s past of alcoholism, addiction, and abuse.

“I learned to start putting my guard down and I didn't have to fight everyone,” said. “Being on the streets of San Francisco/Daly City for 12 years, I had developed a coping mechanism of survival. So, WRS helped me to learn how to love and not fight.”

During her time with WRS, Quiroz came to terms with what she described as the guilt and shame arising from being a victim of human trafficking.

The program taught her it wasn’t her fault, and that despite her harrowing ordeal, something was protecting her and guiding her to her true purpose in life.

“I have faith that going to WRS at the time I did, was a divine appointment that needed to take place in order for me to gain my freedom and find my voice,” Quiroz told the Wine Country Times. “If I would have gone somewhere else, I could have detoured on a different path and it could have prolonged me finding my freedom and my voice.”

Quiroz completed WRS in September 2013 and decided to use her experiences to give back to the community and be a beacon to those in the same situation she was once in.

After attending Santa Rosa Community College to become a Substance Use Disorder Counselor, Quiroz co-founded Redemption House of the Bay Area to help survivors of human trafficking like herself return to a functional, productive, and healthy lifestyle.

“Our services include peer-led support groups, street outreach, mentorship, and community connections,” Quiroz told the Wine Country Times. “Alongside my partner and co-founder, our long-term goal is to open a safe house for human trafficking victims here in Sonoma County. I was led to co-found this organization because God put a burden on my heart to plant seeds of hope to others and lead them to a path of freedom. If I can turn my pain into empowerment to inspire others, then there is hope for those who are still stuck in the grips of human trafficking.”

She eventually married and was also able to successfully reunite with her son after a decade-long battle to regain custody. Her advice to mothers struggling with addiction is to never give up.

“Hold on and this rainy season that you are in will pass,” Quiroz told the Wine Country Times. “After every storm, comes a rainbow with your name on it. If I can turn my pain into purpose, you can as well. Get excited, your transformation from broken to whole is coming and I can't wait to see what recovery has in store for you and your family. I love you, my sister.”

Quiroz recently wrote a memoir about overcoming the cycle of addiction titled "Purified in the Flame." It will be available soon on Amazon.

For more information on Redemption House, visit redemptionhouseofthebayarea.org.