“I went on her birthday so I would never forget,” Ms. Darlington said, explaining that her addiction caused her to miss too many of those days, even when she had the best of intentions. She recalled one year when she left home to get a cake for her daughter Fatima.

“I never came back,” Ms. Darlington said. “Something took over me.”

This time, she followed through and committed to getting clean. Ms. Darlington obtained a job in security and acquired a Section 8 voucher for an apartment. Upon completion of the treatment program, where she stayed for nine months, Ms. Darlington was awarded custody of her children. Two of them chose to remain with their grandmother.

“They were afraid I’d relapse again and didn’t want to take that chance,” Ms. Darlington said.

Jessica Darlington leapt at the chance to be reunited with her mother.

“I didn’t know what it was like to have a mom,” she said. “Now I’m going home with my mother.”

Early into sobriety, Ms. Darlington was tempted by a tax windfall. Instead of using the money for drugs, she made a phone call to a loved one — a strategy she still employs — who told her that he trusted her to make the right decision.