Addie was raped for the first time when she was only 12 years old. To cope with that immense pain, she turned to alcohol. By the time she got to high school, she was partying every chance she got.
Then she got into a bad snowboarding accident. “I was prescribed narcotic painkillers which was my first taste of being completely numb, and I loved it,” Addie says. “I’m not quite sure how but I managed to graduate from high school. I continued to party and continued to get arrested.” Her parents tried over and over to help her get off drugs, but she was still missing the biggest piece—a relationship with Jesus.
Addie bounced between abusive boyfriends, the streets, and jail. The years went on and her life got messier and darker. She became a young mom and things got so bad that her parents adopted her children just to keep them in the family. “I didn’t care about anything but getting high to numb the pain of my life. I hated who I was. I didn’t want to live anymore,” Addie remembers.
The last time Addie was arrested, she spent a year in jail. When she was released, she came straight to the Mission. “That was a year ago. The best year of my life. I participated in weekly Bible studies, attended church, and began a relationship with the Lord. I learned to turn my will over to Him. I learned anger management skills and tools to communicate in a healthy manner,” she says.
Today, Addie is clean and sober, healthy, happy, and has a restored relationship with her parents and children. She has a bright future ahead. “All of these blessings wouldn’t be possible without this program, and this program wouldn’t be possible without all of you donors out there,” Addie says.
