VALDOSTA — Telesha Thomas said her problems started gradually, imperceptibly. There was no magic moment at which she realized she had a problem with alcohol.

“For a long time, I didn’t think I had a problem. It took a while to realize it,” she said.

Thomas said that life has been a lot better since entering the Pines Family Campus. The 37-year-old said February will make a year she has been at the residential facility for people with alcohol and drug addiction problems and their families.

The only girl in a family with three siblings, Thomas said she didn’t have to share with her brothers.

“When I got something, it was mine. My brothers didn’t play with it, and so I was used to having my way,” she said.

She said she has now learned that her problems “had a lot to do with being selfish and self-centered and thinking the world revolved around me.”

“I did something one day and realized it was real selfish,” she admitted.

Thomas said that she could not let go of things that happened in the past. They played over and over in her mind like a recording.

“I felt depressed and turned to alcohol,” she said.

She sought help and found it at the Pines Family Campus.

Funded through the Department of Human Resource’ Division of Addictive Diseases and the Department of Community Affairs, the Pines Family Campus at 305 Smith Ave., off Madison Highway, is fairly new.

Completed in 2006, the campus consists of nine two-bedroom apartments and 19 three-bedroom apartments in low-density duplexes surrounded by a rolling grassy lawn and connected by clean, broad streets. The main hub of activity is the 4,600-square-foot supportive services building.

With security fencing and a controlled access entry, evening security from 5 p.m. -8 a.m., a playground and large playing field, washer and dryer hookups, ceiling fans, dishwashers and disposals, the campus could be described as being amenities rich.

“The Pines (Family Campus) provides the opportunity for low income women to regain control of their lives, for families to be reunified, and facilitates the training necessary for long-term recovery and successful re-entry into mainstream living,” stated George Bennett, the prime mover behind the project.

A program of Volunteers of America, the Pines Family Campus employs eight permanent staff members, including two substance abuse technicians, a case manager, a clinical coordinator, a marriage and family therapist, a nurse, and a secretary. Elizabeth Harbin is the program director. The Pines Family Campus also contracts with a local doctor, Harbin stated.