Alma grew up with loving parents who would have done anything to protect their little girl. “They were really strict about who I spent time with outside of our family. Little did they know that one of my uncles was abusing me.”
She didn’t tell her parents and she didn’t know how to cope with her shame and brokenness on her own. “I felt miserable, like I wasn’t in control of my own body, like I wasn’t safe,” she says. “I had a void inside and, when I was 17, I started using drugs to fill it.”
Her addiction led her into an abusive relationship, further damaging her self-esteem. But when her boyfriend started getting rough with their children, Alma took them and left. “I gave them to my parents and said, ‘They’re safer with you than with me.’”
Eventually, Alma landed in jail and it was there, in the light of sobriety, that her love for her children led her to change her life. When she was released, she entered our Christian Life Training Discipleship Program.
Through the compassion of our counselors, Christian addiction recovery and life skills classes, Alma encountered the healing love of the Lord and it filled the void inside. “I learned that God loves me no matter what and I learned to love and forgive myself,” she says. “Now, I’m no longer ashamed.”
“When you look at me, you’re looking at a miracle.”
Alma completed the program and was reunited with her children. They’ve been living happily together for the past eight years and she’s a substance abuse counselor at the Salvation Army. “I help other addicts find freedom from addiction. It’s God’s calling on my life. It’s what I was meant to do.”
Alma’s heart is overflowing with gratitude this Thanksgiving because YOUR loving support gave her the confidence and support to rebuild her life. “I was hopeless, but now I’m a God-fearing woman, happy and grateful and filled with hope.”