Addiction to recovery to role model

AUSTIN (KXAN) - As the director of the University of Texas Center for Students in Recovery , Ivana Grahovac has seen firsthand the devastation of addiction. Now, she helps students battle with the demons of substance abuse. 

The 36-year-old grew up in Michigan. She was a ballet dancer, went to Wayne University and later became a Dolce & Gabbana model.  During that time though, her life took an unexpected turn.

 “I developed an eating disorder (at 19), I had anorexia and bulimia, and it was left untreated as a result I turned to substances for comfort,” said Grahovac . Her addictions would bring agony to her family and even land her in jail.

But it is her story of recovery that will be the focus of the New Milestones Foundation when it kicks off its 11th annual gala on Monday night. She will share her story at the Bridging the Gap event to help raise money for mental health services for children and teens in the Austin area and the Austin Travis County Integral Care.

Grahovac's parents are Croatian and she would go back to their home country to visit family.

 “I was introduced to ecstasy when I was visiting my cousin in Croatia after the war ended in 1995,” said Grahovac.  “We would get high and dance at clubs and parties until dawn.”

 At 23, she started experimenting with drugs.  She later started using other drugs to come down from the ecstasy.  Grahovac said she would only use the substances on the weekend, but then it turned into a daily activity.    

 “I became severely addicted to heroin, and I ended up losing everything, living on the streets of Detroit, I went to jail, I was estranged from my family, they were searching for me desperately but the shame of my disease the stigma prevent me from thinking my life could ever get better,” she said.

Grahovac spent 54 days in the Oakland County Jail for trying to steal a car.  She had to drop out of college three times so she could get treatment.  She later had to drop modeling because the drugs left marks on her body, and she couldn’t meet the demands.

 It was her parents support and recovery programs that helped bring her back to life.

 “I remember the last time I was in treatment they wrote a letter to me and said, ‘there’s so much to live for, there’s so much to laugh about, there’s so much for you to do we’re not giving up on you. ”

 She stopped using at 28 and has been sober for eight years.  She won her war, and now acts as a soldier to help others fight their battles.

 “My message for people is that no matter how dark, bleak, and hopeless things may seem, as long as a person is a live, there is hope and there’s never a reason to give up,” said Grahovac.  

 She ended up receiving her master’s degree from the University of Michigan School of Social Work in 2009. 

 “We understand the nature of addiction and that it’s chronically trying to pull people down and convince them that you know, the old way is the way to do things,” said the director for the Center for Students in Recovery.  “We understand that so that is why we are responsible for providing a supportive community that is barrier free, that is easily accessible, and we have just compassion for our student’s struggles as they try to get sober. ”

Grahovac said she’s excited because the UT System Board of Regents announced in early November that the Center will take the lead in expanding collegiate recovery programming at other UT System schools.

She said there are only about 24 centers out of the thousands of universities around the nation.

The New Milestones Foundation is a program that helps add to community with supporting people going through mental health difficulties.

"We don't know what to do in a mental health crisis, my friend Reenie Collins point out, that if someone were choking you'd know what to do, you would do the Heimlich Maneuver,"  said Susan Sager, president-elect for the foundation.  "If someone stopped breathing you'd do CPR, but what do you do in a mental health crisis."

Sager said one out of seven kids experience some sort of developmental disability.  She added, one in five are going to experience a mental health issue in their lifetime.  Sager said it's encouraging to hear stories like Grahovac's. 

"I think her story is an incredible story of hope and healing, and that is the good news," said Sager.  "There really are programs that support people with mental illnesses and support their families, we know that we have treatments that work."

Bridging the Gap Event 2012

• "Changing Seasons, Chaning Lives"
• Monday, December 3
• 6 p.m. - 9p.m.
• The Four Seasons Hotel, Downtown Austin
• Tickets are still available
• www.newmilestones.org
• 512-440-4051