A Probation Department Success Story: Dixie Bolan

It wasn’t until she was in her 30s that Dixie Bolan heard encouraging words that made her believe she could really make something of her life. Bolan, a mother of four with another on the way and a former probationer, grew up in a chaotic environment where she was surrounded by failure. “I never had a chance to feel like I was any type of success story,” she said recently. “It was always just a bunch of failure – my life was a bunch of failure, my mom was a failure, my dad was gone.” Her mom was a drug addict and Bolan said she too got involved at a young age. “Back then, I started off with hard drugs, right off the bat. It was always meth, heroine, crack, marijuana, alcohol. Everything I could get my hands on,” she said. When she was 13 years old, Bolan ran away. Over the next few years, she acquired several charges including prostitution, drug possession, weapons possession, having a loaded firearm in a public place, forgery, battery, and possession of stolen property. She was arrested but she continued to backslide during her grants of probation and parole. In 2009, she lost custody of her children. A few years later, Bolan’s daughter visited and said, “Mommy, please get help.” That’s when Bolan finally decided to make some changes. Her Probation Officer helped her get accepted into Saint John of God Treatment Center with the goal of regaining custody of her children. But as her Probation Officer was walking her through the gates of the facility, Bolan was still fighting. “It was a Wednesday, I’ll never forget, and I thought ‘if I can just make it ‘til Friday, then I can run,’” Bolan said. “I always tried to run, always tried to lie and finagle my way out of stuff.” Her plans changed when just two days later Bolan heard uplifting words from her counselors like “the sky is not the limit, the sky is limitless.” She had never heard that before. “I just never had a chance to learn how to be anything productive,” she said. “All I knew was what was given to me as a kid and that wasn’t much.” She let the words encourage her and she stuck with the program. Since then, her life has completely changed. Bolan, 33, said she is a better friend now. She has learned how to build genuine relationships and how to be less selfish and manipulative. But most importantly she has full custody of two of her daughters and is excited about raising her new baby boy in a healthy environment. She’s excited about getting up and making breakfast for her kids. She’s excited about getting them on the school bus and making sure their beds are made. “I get to be a mom to them,” said Bolan, who lives in Victorville. She successfully discharged from probation in October 2014. “The one thing I made sure that I’ve done was stay really involved in recovery and in programs. I’ve devoted 30 hours a week to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, 12-step meetings, going to classes, rehabilitation, substance abuse, cognitive thinking, and learning how to function,” she said. And now, Bolan knows what she wants to do with her life. “I want to go back to school,” she said. “I’m gonna go into drug and alcohol counseling – that’s definitely what I want to do.”