BLOOMINGTON - For Tara, running away from home was a family tradition.

She recognized during her adolescent years that her mother's drug and alcohol habit robbed the family of basic necessities, including groceries. Leaving home reduced the number of mouths to feed.

"I would rather run away than have my sister go hungry," said the pretty blonde, now 20.

By age 12, Tara was following in her mother's footsteps by abusing alcohol. She went from leaving home for a couple of hours to staying away for a couple of weeks at a friend's house in Towanda. A drug habit landed her in rehab at age 14.

Tara and a dozen other young adults meet every Tuesday at Bloomington's Project Oz to learn life skills - how to get and keep a job, rent an apartment, vote, pay bills and other things most adults take for granted. Several participants in the transitional living program shared their experiences with The Pantagraph. To protect their identities, only their first names are disclosed.

The pattern of jumping from place to place came natural for Tara.

"My mom was a runner. When things got chaotic, she would up and move. I've lived from coast to coast, border to border, running, with my family and alone," she said.

During the years she was a runaway, Tara stayed in occasional contact with her family. Like the parents of many chronic runaways, Tara's family stopped looking for her.

Making the connection with Project Oz eight years ago helped Tara stop running.

"They have definitely given me a place to come and talk. They helped me find a place to live, make a resume, learn people and communication skills - they are awesome," she said.

Now the mother of a young daughter, Tara attended Heartland Community College and works for Caterpillar.

The street life

Poverty, drug addiction and broken relationships can force children as young as 12 into the streets, where they rely on friends and strangers for basic necessities.

Food, clean clothes and a place to sleep can be costly.

Life on the streets is different for young girls, said Candace, who started running in fifth grade after her parents' marriage ended.

"It got to the point of sleeping with older men with homes," said Candace, shaking her head at the admission.

The 22-year-old mother of two thinks she was running away from the changes that came with the divorce. She was located and brought home several times.

"Then I started running more often and staying away longer," she said.

Becoming pregnant in 2003 changed Candace's life.

"That must have saved my life. I knew I could not do what everyone else was doing. She was my decision-maker," she said of her young daughter.

With the skills she's learned at Project Oz, Candace hopes to attend college and become a psychologist.

"I think I could give teens some insight," she said.

Nowhere to go

It hasn't been as positive for Josh, 18, who had his first sip of beer at age 8 and developed a taste for his mom's vodka at 10. A native of Wyoming, Ill., Josh is in rehab in Bloomington for a drug habit that started the same year he discovered hard liquor.

Physical clashes with a stepfather when he was around 13 put Josh on the runaway path.

"I camped in the woods and stayed with friends until I ran out of food," Josh said. After a failed stint with his father and stepmother, Josh walked to a friend's house in the next town and stayed there a year.

After his rehab, Project Oz will help Josh transition into an apartment and college classes.

"I can't go back with my parents. They don't want me," he said.