DELAND, Fla. – Nearly five years ago, Kimberly McCaffrey-Noel was arrested by deputies in Volusia County when they found her unconscious in a car, with her baby in the backseat.
At the time, body-camera video from a deputy in DeLand gained national attention, showing the dark truth of the opioid epidemic. McCaffrey-Noel is now clean helping others get back on track.
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“I went through a lot of guilt,” said Kimberly McCaffrey-Noel. “I could never watch it, and then I did, and that’s when I reached out to Sheriff Chitwood.
This week, she decided to email an update to Sheriff Mike Chitwood, in the hopes of showing him how her life has changed. The sheriff posted part of her message to his Facebook page.
“I just want them to know that sometimes when they do step in success stories do happen,” McCaffrey-Noel said.
McCaffrey-Noel said her drug addiction started with prescription medication.
“I would go from like one drug to the next to like get myself off of one. So, I wanted to stop doing pills and they were like, ‘Oh, if you do meth then you won’t have withdrawals,’ which is true, but now you have a meth problem. So, it’s just one drug after the next,” McCaffrey-Noel said.
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In October 2017, a deputy in Deland noticed a car in a Circle K parking lot with its driver’s side door open. McCaffrey-Noel was unconscious in the passenger seat.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said she appeared confused and could not identify where she was. Her 8-month-old daughter was in the back seat “sweating profusely” and had not had her diaper changed in some time, according to deputies. They said McCaffrey-Noel also had opioids in her pocket.
She was arrested for child neglect. McCaffrey-Noel said she didn’t hit rock bottom until five months later when she was arrested again in March of 2018. She said that was her turning point.
“When you’re in drug addiction it’s kind of a switch. Like, for me I just knew it was time. I was done,” McCaffrey-Noel said.
McCaffrey-Noel said she was given a choice to do a drug court program or go to prison. So, she chose the program, which led her to community service at the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia. The organization provides food, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and homeless prevention services.
McCaffrey-Noel tells News 6 that she started volunteering and also lived at the shelter. Now, she works there as an employee at “the Bridge” where she helps others get the help they need.
“I can tell my story, and I know what these people have gone through and what it takes to make it work,” McCaffrey-Noel said.
She’s already making a difference as a mother. The 8-month-old baby seen in the backseat in 2017 is now starting kindergarten.
“She wouldn’t even let me walk her,” McCaffrey-Noel said. “She was like ‘I got this Mom’ and then I just let her go.
Her work at the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia also led her to her husband. The couple, who work together at the organization, will celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary this fall.
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