Jolene Paquette had every reason to end up a drug addict or in jail.
But despite growing up in a family synonymous with drugs, crime and gangs in Prince George, Paquette has chosen another road for herself and her three sons. Paquette was one of the speakers at the B.C. Crime Prevention Association's Northern Crime Prevention Symposium held in Prince George on Saturday.
"I'm very proud to show members of my family we do have choices," she said. "I tell people that everybody has a choice - you can choose to follow your family path or choose a different path."
Today Paquette is raising her three boys - aged nine, six and five years old - and preparing to get her bachelor's degree in social work. She's a presenter with Communities Against the Sexual Exploitation of Youth (CASEY) and has done previous work with Youth Around Prince (YAP).
But the journey to get to where she is today has been a lifelong battle to escape the influences which claimed the lives of her father and brother earlier this year.
"My life was never easy, it was always been a struggle. I could see myself being different, and my family being different than other people," Paquette said. "I was eight [years old] when I realized why my family is different. I was home sick with the flu. I was yelling for my mom, telling her I was sick, when I saw my mom and dad run by my bedroom. I jumped up... and I go out and see a police officer with a gun standing in the hallway."
Police rounded up everyone in the house and conducted a search of the house, she said.
"I watched my mom and dad be taken away. My parents were charged with drug possession and drug dealing," she said. "[Then] it made sense to me why I had kids tell me they weren't allowed to be my friend."
For the full story, see Monday's issue of the Citizen.
