November 22, 2009 in Features

Mealtime at Miryam’s

Women in transition from prison, addiction, abuse discover importance of dining-table rituals

• Print
• Email
• Share

Kitty Coleman, right, a resident of Miryam’s House, laughs during dinner last week. Mealtime is an important part of the recovery process offered at Miryam’s.
(Full-size photo) (All photos)

When you are a drug user and alcoholic, as Kitty Coleman was for 27 of her 41 years, you hang out in dark places that smell of unwashed people, and the food is junk – convenience store burritos, macaroni flavored with mayonnaise.

Contrast this to Miryam’s House on Spokane’s lower South Hill, where Coleman has lived since April, working daily on her continued sobriety amid other women in transition.

Here, the kitchen comes alive every afternoon – light, warm and filled with the aroma of good cooking.

At 6 p.m., the 10 women who live at Miryam’s eat …

• Story
• Photos 02
• Audio 01
• Comments

No comments on this story so far. Add yours!