She's trying to stay sober from a drug addiction. Here's what she says would help

Just last month, Jennifer Capannelli would wake up to a war raging inside her head. 

There was a part of her that wanted to give in and use cocaine, but there was another part of her that knew she couldn't handle going backwards once again.

Meditation and taking walks with her 10-year-old son help to calm the battle now, but she's still struggling to finally quit her decades-long drug addiction. 

Over the past 24 years, Capannelli has used multiple substances, but was mostly addicted to cocaine. An increasingly toxic drug supply has also meant that all-too-often, her drug tests have revealed a cocktail of substances coursing through her body. 

Earlier this month, Capannelli completed a five-week live-in addiction treatment program in Windsor. It's the fourth time she's tried to get sober through a residential recovery program and she's hoping it's her last. 

"I was going to die in [this recent] relapse, so I had to remove myself," said the 45-year-old Windsor resident. 

"This time I picked myself back up and I just knew I needed to get somewhere." 

Part of what has made recovery difficult for Capannelli in the past is that once treatment ends, she winds up back in the same setting as before: her mom's house.

And while Capannelli says she's grateful for everything her mom has helped her with over the years, it's hard to cope when she's back in the space where she has used drugs before and overdosed. 

"You can't go from treatment just boom — out into the world," she said. 

"It's too much of a shock to the system and you break down. You can't handle it." 

It's why she wants to see Windsor get more transitional housing for women — a live-in space where people who have just completed residential addiction treatment programs can stay in for up to a year into their recovery. These spaces often have social workers or treatment counselors who can help people stay on track, teach them to build routine and support them in getting a job, housing or reuniting them with their children. 

Right now, women recovering from addiction in Windsor don't have many transitional housing options. 

House of Sophrosyne, a women's recovery centre, has one unit where a woman who is pregnant, has children or working to regain custody of her kids, can stay up to a year. Meanwhile, Brentwood Recovery Home has spots for 11 women. Hiatus House, a women's shelter, is currently working on bringing a 40-unit transitional housing building to the region.