The Baltimore addictions counselor who used her own struggles to help others get clean

Jescina “Cina” Faye Artis’ first priority was getting sober. Her second was helping others do the same.

The Baltimore native was pregnant and just shy of her 30th birthday when she decided to seek treatment. And then, once she found her footing, she opened her home to neighbors experiencing addiction or homelessness. She became a devoted and respected counselor, spending the end of her career as director of substance abuse treatment services for Baltimore Crisis Response, now called CarePoint Response.

And then she got sick with congestive heart failure and lung and kidney issues. But she still wanted to help others — so she moved to a new role as a peer and counselor supervisor. After her death, her colleagues are remembering her as “the mother of CarePoint Response,” said Johnathan Davis, the company’s CEO.

“She should be also remembered as a trailblazer in the city, making sure people get connected to the right services and resources,” Davis said. “I think she should also be remembered as a person of hope.”

Artis, an encouraging mother and grandmother who also loved caring for pets and watching reruns of “Law & Order,” died Sept. 17 of multiple health complications. She was 71.

She was born in Baltimore on March 23, 1955, the elder of Margaret and Jesse Artis’ two daughters. After the couple divorced, her mother was their main caretaker, but Jescina felt protective over her little sister, India.

In adulthood, they learned they also had a brother, Jeffrey, who was born between the girls but didn’t grow up with them. Jescina kept in touch with him.

She attended Windsor Hills Elementary School and Pimlico Junior High School and studied ballet at the Peabody Conservatory. She continued dancing as she got older and learned to play the guitar and piano.

As teenagers, she and India worked at a florist, where they made bouquets and learned to identify different plants and flowers. Jescina’s favorite was the bird of paradise — a South African perennial that produces orange and blue blooms — “because it was kind of exotic looking and looked different from anything else,” her sister said.

After graduating from Western High School in 1973, Jescina headed to the University of Baltimore, where she studied sociology and joined the basketball team’s cheerleading squad. She also worked at the Rathskeller pub. Later in life, she returned to school, earning her master’s degree and pursuing a doctorate from Walden University.

After undergrad, though, she started working at a car insurance company. There, Jescina utilized her “gift with words,” her sister said.

“I used to go sit in her office and just listen to her, how she talked with her clients, because she was just so eloquent and so sweet and so endearing,” India said.

Then came the hard years of addiction after the girls lost their mother in 1979. Jescina struggled with cocaine use, often getting high late at night with friends. They’d get an hour or two of sleep, go to work, then do it all over again, India said.

Jescina had her son, Page, in 1982. Her turning point came two years later, when she was pregnant with her daughter Hope and her boss at the insurance company accused her of stealing money.

Now her addiction was affecting her job. And her kids were just beginning their lives — she wanted to be there for them. Something had to change.

She sought treatment at Hope House in Anne Arundel County and started a 42-year sobriety journey. As she searched for her next career move, a friend helped her get a job at Tuerk House, an addiction rehab center. She loved that she could channel her energy into helping others, her sister said.

Her work also took her to Sinai Hospital, Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Recovery Network and Bon Secours before her tenure at CarePoint. She was an adjunct faculty member at Sojourner-Douglass College and helped develop substance abuse and violence-prevention programs for youth at Walbrook High School.

Davis, the CarePoint CEO, met Jescina when he interviewed for the role in 2021. She asked him more personal questions than some of the other interviewers — what kind of music he liked, what he did for fun. After he joined the staff, he learned quickly that everyone looked to Jescina for life advice and support.

She mentored staff members who later ascended to leadership roles. She used her personal experience with addiction to connect more deeply with clients: “To decide to change your life is not an easy thing,” Davis said. “She understood that.”

“She would always be encouraging folks, being people’s cheerleaders,” he said.

Those tendencies were only emphasized in her personal life, as when she’d take her kids to the zoo or a museum. Her home was a gathering place for her children’s friends. She always sought the best healthcare for Hope, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.

She also informally adopted a third child, Ami Dixon, after a chance meeting in 1998. Dixon confided in Jescina and looked to her for honest but loving guidance, and she befriended Hope. In 2000, Dixon moved into Jescina’s house. She started calling her “Mom.”

“She was a peacemaker,” Dixon said. “She didn’t like to argue. She would always try to resolve issues.”

Her maternal nature was strong even in the most difficult times, loved ones said. She was a rock for the family after Page died in an accident at age 26. Jescina took responsibility for his daughter, Diamond. Every year after, she made T-shirts and celebrated Page on his birthday.

Jescina was also a licensed minister and said it was her strong faith that kept her going, family said. She often said God put her on a path to recovery.

“If you ask for prayer, she’s going to stop whatever she’s doing and she’s going to pray with you,” Dixon said. “And, if you don’t, you don’t even have to ask. She’s going to pray with you.”

No matter the subject, she’d end all her conversations with family and friends the same way: “I love you.”

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