Suburban Slums

The Secret Life of One Woman

Billy Joe was only a year old when her parents divorced, leaving her mentally ill mother to raise her alone. In the midst of the unstable lifestyle her mother offered, Billy Joe spent her teens moving from one bad situation to another. At twenty she fell in love with a Sicilian gangstera man twenty-nine years her senior. She found herself involved in street life, mystery, drugs, murder, and various other crimes. Her world of destruction and dysfunction finally came to a halt when her crimes won her eighteen years of incarceration.

After her release, Billy Joe vowed to assist others like her, people whose lives led them to places they never should have been. Billy Joe developed a program for Transitional Housing, a service that focused on mental health returnees, Youth from Foster Care and Juveniles. It is called: Startingoverforsuccess.org. Inspired by her work, she returned to school and received a limited license on social work from the state of Michigan, credentials that certified her assist adolescents and adults struggling with substance abuse. Her long struggle with substance abuse and the prejudices of others gave her a unique and valuable perspective in her work.

Determined to live a free and stable life, Billy Joe continues to fearlessly search herself daily. In her memoir, Billy Joe lays herself bare, sharing her darkest secrets in hope of inspiring others, those who might be facing some of the most life-altering decisions of their lives, to make the right choices now and avoid the peril she has suffered.