Each month, our new project "Vital Signs" will explore a different topic on health. Today we hear from Julie Gates and Elena Wilson, who met seven years ago in Chico. Both women struggled with addiction and Gates, who goes by the nickname "Jewels," sold drugs to support her own habit. In largely rural Butte County, it was hard for them to find treatment they could afford and were daunted by months-long waiting lists for help. Now clean and sober, the two women volunteer at the Hope Center in Oroville, giving back to the homeless community. They talk to one another about their journey.
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