Growing up, Lindsy Andersen was taught the dangers of drugs. She knew the dangers of drugs and never used them, even when her husband used methamphetamines off an on.

That is, until last year.

"Last year I tried [meth] with my husband," she said. "I used it every day from then on."

For Andersen, the addiction to meth was immediate. She had been with her husband for seven years while he used the drug, and at the time she felt the drug use made their marriage better.

"I liked it, and I thought it made my relationship perfect," she said. "My husband wasn't lying or hiding things from me anymore, and he wasn't leaving me and the kids. In a user's mind, that's what is important."

The daily drug use continued for seven months, until two dozen armed police officers raided Andersen's home. Her two sons, ages 3 and 5, were taken away and put in the custody of their grandmother.

Andersen, a 24-year-old Springville woman, said she went to court and took a guilty plea in abeyance. In order for her charges to be dismissed, she must go through rehabilitation programs.

Andersen, who has been sober since July, started her rehabilitation at the House of Hope, a residential treatment program. Her sons stayed in the facility's daycare while their mother underwent rehabilitation classes.

Until a hearing on Dec. 20, Andersen's children are in her mother's custody, who Andersen also lives with.

Andersen is now in a program at the Promise of Women and Families. The Orem facility is geared towards addicted mothers with small children, said Barry Sanford, a program manager for Promise.

Intensive to general programs are available to 60 women, Sanford said, but there are constant waiting lists to get in. Some women remain on the list for almost six months, he said.

Thanks to the Drug Offender Rehabilitation Act (DORA), Sanford said the program has finally received a money to build a new facility in Spanish Fork that will greatly increase the number of available slots.

"The county has always been short of slots," he said. "By that DORA funding coming through ... it's allowed the county to start opening more slots."

Sanford said the outpatient program focuses on the most effective treatment, which is why men are not allowed in the program.

"Women, when they are by themselves, do dramatically better than with men in treatment," he said.

Other major roadblocks to treatment for women is childcare and transportation. Women who do not have transport or childcare will often not enter treatment. Sanford said the program offers both for their clients for the first six weeks of treatment.

"We've been able to almost double the slots, and there's still a waiting list."

Sanford said the waiting list is a problem because all drug users must go through the county to be screened before they are sent to Promise. Addicts who are sent by the courts are usually given a higher priority over a person off the streets who recognizes they have a problem.

"That person that's asking for help before DCFS gets involved, that individual has the hardest time getting in," he said. Sanford said the new facility in Spanish Fork will help reduce the waiting list by providing an extra 60 slots. It will also help the facility and its clients with transportation issues.

Some clients are picked up almost two hours before the program begins each morning in order to get everyone to Orem in time, Sanford said. The new southern facility will now take all clients south of Center Street in Provo, while the Orem location will take clients north of the dividing line.

An open house for the Promise South building will be held today from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 1161 East and 1010 North in Spanish Fork. Although clients will not use the building for a week or two, the open house will take place today in conjunction with the national methamphetamine awareness day on Nov. 30.

The new building in Spanish Fork will have several improvements, including larger rooms and a grassy area outdoors for the children. Women with small children are some of the most frequent users of meth, said Richard Nance, director of the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse.

In the past five years, 1,200 Utah County women were admitted to UCSDA, he said, outnumbering men by 25 percent.

Meth use begins in many different ways, often with the use of a less dangerous drug. Amber Morgan, a 26-year-old Provo woman, said she started using marijuana and meth because of the influence of older friends.

"I smoked pot for the first time in sixth grade," she said. "Then, in seventh grade, I started on meth."

Morgan said she used drugs for 12 years before she got into a court ordered rehabilitation program that helped. Every time she tried to quit, she said, it was to please her family.

Now, it's for her.

"It wasn't my life anymore," she said. "It just got old."

For Kayko Chadwick, a 21-year-old Spanish Fork resident, the drug use did not began as a result of abuse. She began using meth when an older relative supplied it to her.

"I started using meth when I was 12," she said. " My uncle introduced it to me. He gave it to me every time before he did something sexual to me."

By age 17, Chadwick was using meth regularly to cope with stress in her life. Her rehabilitation began after her home was raided in January and her 16-month-old son was taken away.

However the meth use began, the three women each cited their children as the reason to complete rehabilitation. Chadwick now has custody of her son again, but after his four month stay in a foster home, it took time for him to remember her and he liked his foster mom better.

Chadwick said her treatment has helped her to cherish her son and their bond has strengthened.

"He means more to me know than he ever has," she said. "You don't know how much you love something until you lose it."

Morgan's three sons live with their father, but she has gotten more visitation time as her treatment progresses.

"[The boys' father] sees that I'm doing good now," she said. "I'm off drugs now. He gives me more time with them."

Andersen said she will most likely get her sons back after a hearing on Dec. 20, and the Promise program is helping her toward that goal. The program has helped her rebuild her confidence and learn new skills, including how to take care of her kids.

Andersen said she relishes the time she has with her children now. At the House of Hope, she did not have an active role with her children while she was in classes.

When the boys needed changing or feeding, the staff members did it. At Promise, Andersen said she gets to feed her boys herself and take care of them, even when she is in classes or groups.

"Even getting the opportunity to wipe their stinky bums or clean their messy faces after lunch, it makes you grateful," she said.

Despite the downward spiral her own life took while Andersen was using meth, she said the drug had a dramatic effect on her boys. Her sons were terrified by the large men with guns who tore through their house.

When Andersen recently told her son they may be able to move into their own home soon, she said her son did not want to make the move because he was afraid of another police raid.

"No Mom, then the guys will know where we live," he said.

The main motivation for Andersen to complete her rehabilitation program is her sons, she said. After her time in House of Hope and at the Promise center, Andersen has seen a change in her boys.

They aren't as afraid anymore, and her sons no longer cry when she leaves their side for a moment. Recovering addicts need to want to change for themselves, but her boys are her biggest reason.

"You just have to want it, and it's what I want more than anything," she said. "I don't ever want to see the look on my kids' faces that they had that night."