Sharing hope . . .thanks to you
Through your support, Candy helps other women who are LOST to become FOUND
Looking back with clear eyes and a clear head, Candy can now see how things went so wrong with her life. “I always had to be perfect,” she says. “That became power and control for me. But I could never be perfect enough.”
A closet alcoholic for most of her life, Candy says she can trace her troubles back to her early childhood. She was sexually abused, distraught, and introduced to alcohol at a young age. “Alcohol changed the way I felt,” she says, “but ended up in full-bore addiction.” Inevitably, drug use followed.
Candy spent many years battling her addictions. Most of the time, she says, she just didn’t care. “I had no hope. My life was very chaotic. My house was not safe. A lot of the people I hung out with were not safe. I wasn’t either.”
Failed attempts to overcome addiction
From time to time, Candy’s life would get so bad, she’d try to get off drugs and alcohol. She went through five inpatient and seven outpatient programs, as well as several psychiatric wards. But nothing lasted. She always went back to drinking.
Finally, with her life falling apart and her health failing because of her addiction, Candy made the decision to come to the Mission. “Things were caving in,” she says. “I had no money. I did a lot of fighting, surviving, going to food banks. It was dark.”
Candy realized that for the sake of her 9-year-old son, she had to get help. “Coming to the Mission was about me getting my son to a safe place,” she says.
Rebuilding her life
Through the Mission, Candy was able to find longterm sobriety, rebuild the relationship with her son, get her GED, and then go on to college for an associate’s degree in human services.
But most important, the Mission’s focus on faith encouraged Candy to seek God’s forgiveness and redemption. She has truly experienced God’s love and grace, learning that it covers all people, no matter who you are or what you’ve done.
Says Candy, “I’m free from bondage. But more than anything, I know that the Lord and I have a very intimate, personal relationship. He’s everything to me.”
“The best Christmas”
With the holidays in full swing, Candy says she’s blessed to remember her first Christmas at the Mission. She and her son were able to use their “Mission Bucks” — rewards you can earn for doing your recovery work — to “shop” for Christmas gifts for each other.
She recalls, “There was such a feeling of God’s presence. It was the best Christmas. We were able to learn how to live life together. Reconciliation between both God and my family was the best gift I have ever received.
Hope for the future
Through her time at the Mission, Candy learned a lot about herself, about God, and about what He wants her to be and do. As Candy progressed in her recovery, she discovered great fulfillment in helping others.
Today, 12 years after she walked through our door, Candy is a case manager at the Mission. She mentors women as they work through their recovery. She encourages them to acknowledge poor choices — but also to see themselves as God does: valued, special, worthy of being loved. She says, “I give them hope that they can change.”
As for the future, Candy says, “I have a dream. There’s a fire in me to give hope. I love to speak. I love to walk alongside.”
