Melanie may only be 19-years-old, but she's already seen some of the worst life has to offer.

Drinking by the time she was 13 and using meth by 15, she's now clean, sober, and about to begin college classes.

She got the help she needed through a program called New Start that helps addicted, expecting mothers.

Now she and her daughter Eliana are back at the new start house to share her story.

"And I ended up losing everything I had. I lost my apartment, all my belongings, everything just because I was using," she said.

It's a story Greg Sands knows as well. "Addiction is very cunning and baffling," he says.

Today he owns a successful Sioux Falls business. It's a long way from where he was in 1989 when he was addicted to cocaine, arrested and sent to federal prison.

Now, along with running Sands Drywall, he also makes it his mission to help the Glory House, a Sioux Falls halfway house that helped him get back on his feet.

"One of the biggest problems is when people are in that position they have no hope for the future. And if you do the right things for the right reasons, there is," said Greg.

Both say rehab works, if the addict is willing to put in the effort to make a life change.

"Coming into treatment is not an easy thing. It's really scary because after you've been using for years and years to just quit and stop and change your life is really hard," said Melanie.

But the very public struggles of pop stars like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and the resort-like rehab programs they apparently checked into could have some wondering, is it really work or just a vacation?

Absolutely not says Darcy Jensen of Prairie View Prevention, at least if the addict is serious about recovery.

"They don't go in lightly. It isn't seen as 'I'll just quick do this and it will be over,'" she says.

In fact both Melanie and Greg say it's a commitment they have to live every day.

Melanie comes back to New Start occasionally for support and encouragement.

Greg is now on the board of directors at the Glory House and is leading the effort for the Sands Freedom Center that will allow the facility to treat even more addicts.

When it opens, the Sands Freedom Center will provide outpatient treatment for men and women and inpatient treatment for women addicts coming out of prison.