When the call came, she was in the hallway of her apartment, getting her son dressed.

Khara Ledoux had tried not to get her hopes up. she told friends how competitive it was to get into the program. Thirty-two women had applied.

“They only take 10 girls,” Khara had said.

She listened to the program director on the other end of the line and screamed.

Khara wanted a better life for her two sons.

She had used methamphetamine. she was on food stamps. her boys’ dad called her a welfare mom.

The phone call meant a new start: no one would be able to call her that anymore.

Even when she was using, Khara thought meth was trashy.

She grew up in Louisiana, in a nurturing home with two sisters and a brother. she never hung out with people who did drugs.

The first time she saw someone shoot up, she felt like she was in a movie.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m watching this,’” said Khara, now 33.

“And then it just became a norm.”

Khara followed a boyfriend to Casper 12 years ago, when she was 20. she met friend Liz Davis serving at Red Lobster. In the summer of 2004, they started using.

Khara’s mom had died earlier that year. Even though they lived far away, Khara and her mom had been close and talked on the phone all the time.

Two years later, her sister Joy died, too.

“It was just one thing after another,” Khara said.

Khara didn’t feel responsible to anyone. she used because she felt like she wasn’t hurting anybody.

“It’s such a hard thing to stay away from. It’s easy to get in a rut,” she said. “… my life was going nowhere anyway.”

Some nights Khara only made $15 or $20 in tips waiting tables. she and Liz arrived at work late. a dishwasher once told them he could see their track marks.

Khara got evicted. she and Liz spent one winter living out of their cars in parking garages around Casper. Liz remembers cranking the heat up to get the car nice and steamy, then shutting it off and settling in for the night.

In Texas, Khara’s sister Babette Curtis worried. she would call Khara again and again and hear nothing back. she called a nurse in Casper to ask about meth use. If Khara was her sister, the nurse said, she would drive up and take her away.

Babette planned to come to Casper, then a winter storm hit. The roads were too poor for travel.

“The thought of losing another sister, I couldn’t bear it,” Babette said.

Khara had talked about leaving Casper to go live with her sister, too. she told Liz often she was going to get away someday.

Liz didn’t think it would happen.

She didn’t think Khara would get clean because she never got arrested. Not once.

For Liz it took multiple arrests and treatment centers to clean up.

“Getting in trouble saved my life,” she said.

Then, in 2010, Khara had her first son, Carson. she got pregnant with her second, David, and then stayed clean for good.

“She had her first child and here she was pregnant with David,” Liz said. “There was this moment where everything just changed.”

Pregnant, Khara packed up her things, loaded Carson into the car and drove to Texas to be with her sister. While she was there, Liz called to tell her about CLIMB Wyoming.

Since 1986, the nonprofit has helped 1,444 low-income single mothers across the state gain independence and overcome poverty by training and placing them in higher-paying careers. Women receive individual and group counseling and learn parenting and life skills in a 16-week program.

CLIMB expanded in 2004 and now includes six sites across the state. The Casper program has graduated 217 women, with a 90 percent graduation rate.

Less than half of the Casper graduates are employed when they apply. Of those who do have jobs, average monthly income is $1,105. Two years after graduation, that average is $2,550, according to most recent data.

This comes at a time when more women are raising kids as single moms, in a state that boasts the largest gender wage gap in the country.

In 2009, 34 percent of children in Wyoming were born to unmarried mothers, up from 29 percent in 2000, according to the 2012 Wyoming Kids Count Data Report. Women here earned 64 cents for every $1 earned by men working full time, year-round, in 2010, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

When selecting participants, Casper program director Lesha Thorvaldson said she looks for women who are truly ready to make changes in their lives. The program helps the women look at how the choices they’ve made have either helped or hurt them. they talk about their relationships, mental health, how they raise their children. some women apply two, three times before getting in.

“It’s looking at every single thing in their lives and picking out what can help them be successful in every aspect,” Lesha said.

Khara thought CLIMB could be her second chance. Before she had even submitted an application, she moved back to Casper.

In her first conversation with Lesha last October, Khara said she didn’t want to shame her boys by living in poverty. she didn’t want them to be embarrassed in the checkout line at the grocery store when they were old enough to know she was using food stamps.

She was motivated, determined.

“I knew instantly, she’s a keeper,” Lesha said.

Khara set five alarms to make sure she got up on time.

She never missed a day.

“Once she got back, I never had anything to worry about,” Liz said.

Liz ran errands and took Carson, now 20 months, and David, 8 months, to the doctor so Khara could focus on CLIMB. for the first time, Khara took her boys to day care.

In January, Khara spent two weeks in the McMurry Training Center classroom learning about welding. Then she was in the shop, welding and cutting metal, 36 hours a week for eight weeks. Khara and the other women met Wednesdays at the CLIMB office for counseling and classes in self-defense, domestic violence prevention, interviewing for a job, parenting, cooking and budgeting.

Training ended one Friday in March. Khara wanted to get right to work.

She interviewed for a job with Woodward Machine Corporation the following Monday and started work the same day.

She wakes at 6 a.m. these days, gets her boys up, changes diapers, puts “Sesame Street” on Netflix. The boys go to the sitter’s house and, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Khara welds.

This is her way of life now.

“This is the way it should be,” she said.

Babette Curtis said she has her sister’s back.

On Wednesday, the Casper CLIMB program honored its mothers in a graduation, celebrating the end of 16 weeks. for Khara it also celebrated eight years.

Eight years since she started using, had her boys, got clean.

Dressed in black gowns and caps with red tassels, the women walked up to the podium one by one to receive their certificates. each was given the chance to speak.

But what to say?

Today, Khara has a career. She’s not on food stamps. she wants to buy a house and take her boys to Disney World and raise them to be good men. a couple of weeks ago, she opened college funds for them.

Khara stepped up, a smiling David in her arms. There were hugs, flowers, photographs.

She said her life has changed.

She said all that was left: “Thank you guys so much.”

“Thank you.”

Reach features reporter Margaret Matray at 307-266-0535 or margaret.matray@trib.com.

Mother reclaims life for two sons with help of CLIMB Wyoming