By KEITH UPCHURCH

kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612

DURHAM — Forty years on drugs.

That’s Linda McCumbee’s story, but now it’s history.

McCumbee was one of a dozen people to graduate Tuesday from the drug recovery program at Urban Ministries of Durham.

A Brunswick County native, McCumbee, 57, said she started abusing alcohol and drugs at 17 when she was in high school and continued the abuse until March, when she started the residential program at the private, nonprofit organization on Liberty Street downtown.

“Oh man, it’s given me a brand-new life,’’ she said in an interview before the ceremony. “It’s saved my life. It’s given me the tools to go out and not use and drink and to be a productive citizen.’’

She said the program is similar to the 12-step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous, and has a strong spiritual basis. “I became much closer to God due to this program,’’ she said. “Very much.’’

McCumbee said she started abusing drugs because of “things inside of me. The drugs and alcohol weren’t looking for me; I went looking for them. There was a void that God filled.”

She said the program turned her around in six months.

“Not only has my life been saved here, but they sustained my life. They’ve sheltered me, clothed me, fed me.’’

She’s about to move into a new apartment in Durham with help from Urban Ministries and is looking for work.

Another graduate, 53-year-old Alton James, said he had been abusing drugs since age 13.

“When I first came here, I didn’t want to be here,’’ he said in an interview after the ceremony. “I learned a lot about my selfishness, my resentments, my self-will — doing things my way.”

James, originally from Greenville, said his 40 years of drug abuse included marijuana, pills, crack cocaine, “acid” and heroin.

“And I’d drink almost anything, anything that made me get high,’’ he said.

Why did he use?

“I didn’t have a father figure back in the day,’’ he said. “I just hung around with the wrong people.’’

But he said the program “made me see that I was my biggest problem. I carried me wherever I’d go, regardless of what town or state I was in.’’

But for James, this is a new day — one he never thought he’d see.

“I actually didn’t think I was going to make it,’’ he said. “I never thought anything like this could happen to me. This is truly a dream come true.’’