She's been sober since October, when she had a spiritual awakening in prison and decided to change her life -- with a little help.
When ex-prostitute Amy Ford walks down Independence Avenue now, she's a pedestrian and nothing more.
By Michael McClure Ex-prostitute Amy Ford
In this week's cover story, "The Oldest Professional," The Pitch explored the dark cycle of prostitution and addiction; Amy's story begins where that ends.
"I gave God a chance and let him into my life," she says, sitting at a cafe in Columbus Park. "During my last incarceration, I read the whole Bible and the Left Behind series. It was a reality check."
After she got out of prison, her life didn't get easier. Each day brings a new set of struggles. She wakes up, fights addiction, demons and anger, and looks for work, which isn't easy given her criminal background.
"I feel people judge me because of my past," she says. "People change. I wish someone would give me a chance.
"But," she admits, "if the tables were turned I'd have a hard time looking past that, too."
No work means no money. Up until a few months ago when she was living in an apartment off the Avenue, Amy only had to look out her window to see the streets she used to work. The temptation of easy cash is still with her. "To walk out my door and know I can be at work? It's a struggle every single day," she says.
Addicts often tell themselves "One day at a time" to help them pare down the seemingly impossible concept of staying sober for a lifetime into manageable terms. Amy whittles it down even more. "I take it one second at a time," she says, "because any given second, I could have the urge."
For now, she focuses on the present. A few months after that morning in the Columbus Park cafe, Amy moved off the Avenue and took a part-time cleaning job.
"I started when I was 14," she says of prostitution. "I'm 28 now. I can say, 'I was a prostitute for 13 years,' not, 'I have been a prostitute for 14 years.'"
***
People sometimes say with pride that they're the first one in their family to graduate high school. Amy was the first person in hers not to.
She grew up a normal kid with a rebellious streak in the Denver area, but when she was 13, an aunt she was close to was killed by a drunk driver. Amy had already started to show her inner wild child by the time she was 11. After her aunt's death, that part of her grew unchecked.
She started smoking marijuana and hanging with an older group of guys -- high school guys. They did whatever they wanted, and made her feel mature, important and that she belonged.
"They were there for me," she says. "They were like my family."
Amy lost her virginity to one of them before she turned 13. A year later, she started having sex for money as an escort.
She did that in Denver, St. Louis and Kansas City before nose-diving into a crack addiction and landing on the streets in the Northeast Neighborhood.
"I never saw first hand what a crack addiction does to somebody until I got here," she says.
She'd been addicted to 11 drugs in her life, by her count, but crack was the worst.
The addiction drove her to the streets where she'd prostitute, but to prostitute she had to be high. The relationship between crack and hooking knotted itself so tight that nothing else could get in.
***
Rebuilding her life is a work in progress, which is complicated by her criminal past, her lurking addictions, and the PTSD she says she has.
"Right now I'm trying to figure it out," she says. "I feel like sometimes it's easier out there on the streets, and I get mad at God sometimes for real, because things aren't looking up."
But she knows she has to be strong in her struggle if she wants to rebuild her life.
Amy has four kids between the ages of 4 and 8-years-old, but they live in different states and her contact with them is very limited. "Right now, that's for the best," she says.
She'd like to go to cosmetology school and start doing outreach to sex workers and never turn anyone away. For now, she's moving ahead in sobriety and feeling parts of her wake up that had gone dormant under her addiction.
"The first time I had sober sex it was a revelation for me," she says, grinning. "To be emotionally connected with someone, it was better than being high."
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I am very proud of Amy. I hope she is still doing ok. I am her cousin by marriage, and have been trying to find her! If there is a way, please have her contact me! Thank yiou
Good for you Amy. There are people out there who love you - always remember that.
I'm glad Amy found the help that she needed. And she's pretty nice looking. Most people who get mixed up with crack and prostitution don't come out looking so great, if they ever come out at all. Good luck, Amy!
Amy, what an incredible story. I feel honored that you shared it in so much detail. I hope you go ahead and begin a profession where you outreach to other sex workers. You can do it and you sound very brave.
What a great piece. I loved the ending, especially. Made me smile. Thanks.
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