Janelie Alicea

Janelie Alicea went to prison three times for selling and using drugs.  Anger and depression were at the root of her addiction to marijuana.  For fifteen years Janelie, 37, was depressed, never smiled and was always getting into fist fights, until a fight in prison landed her in an isolated cell for 30 days. 

“I was crying and praying.  Then it came: I gotta change,” she recalled.  Eventually, Janelie graduated from the “drug wing” at the ACI where inmates go through an extensive rehab program. Upon release from prison, she came across a flyer about Amos House and its culinary arts program. 

“At first I was afraid because I had a learning disability and didn’t know if I could do it,” she confessed.  But shortly afterward she enrolled and weeks later graduated at the top of her class. 
Today Janelie is Assistant Chef and Manager of Volunteers at the Amos House kitchen. “My job at Amos House saved my life,” she shared.

“I was at my lowest point in prison–rock bottom,” explained Janelie. “Amos House taught me how to be sober, gave me work skills, positive encouragement and a step-by-step program to get my life on track.” Through Amos House and living clean and sober for four years, she has discovered new pathways to fulfillment.

“Now my daughters look at me and say, ‘My mom is really doing something’,” Janelie said.  “That’s the best high of all!”