I hear a lot of stories of the Rescue Mission providing help just in time. Many people come to us at their rock-bottom, when they have lost all hope and have nowhere else to turn. This was the case for Gina, who arrived just days before giving birth to her daughter.
Gina struggled for so long on her own, trying to make ends meet. But realizing if she did not get help, she would give birth to a child and have only a car to bring her home, was a turning point for Gina. She finally accepted that she needed help to change her life for her, and her soon-to-be-born daughter.
Gina’s Story
As a juvenile, Gina had been arrested 23 times. At 17, she lost the one adult in her life, her grandmother, leaving her to drift even further into the high-risk lifestyle she was living. By 19, she was doing a variety of different drugs. She was willing to do anything and everything she could to feed her habit.
“I didn’t have a stable income so I could never pay rent. I would just walk around. I felt like if I stood still, if I sat down, something bad would happen,” Gina remembers.
Her run-ins with police continued into adulthood, and her bad decisions continued to pile up. Finally at nine months pregnant, Gina came to the Rescue Mission for help.
“I got here on Friday, and then I had my daughter on Tuesday,” Gina recalls.
Today, Gina’s daughter Samantha, is a healthy, thriving baby girl, with sparkling blue eyes and a beautiful smile. “She’s lived here her entire life,” Gina says. “She’s been safe her entire life.”
For Gina, this means everything. At the Mission, Gina and Samantha have a safe place to call home, and for Gina, the healing process to begin. And it hasn’t been easy. “I thought when I got sober, everything would be better,” says Gina. “The journey was really discovering that that was just one problem in this big bucket of problems.”
But today, Gina has made so much progress. She quit smoking, and has been able to confront all of the reasons she was so hurt and angry. With her job assignment at the Village of Hope, she has gained valuable job skills, and she has also successfully completed the Road to Success employment workshop.
Now, Gina is employed full-time at a hospital and has a bright future ahead of her! She has successfully transitioned out of the Village of Hope and she and Samantha have moved to a rental home that also provides supportive community. Gina has even started college classes in addition to her full-time job!
Gina shares, “God was able to reach out to me and convince me that I could change.”
I invite you take a look at the following video to hear Gina’s story for yourself.
Because of your compassion, Gina got help at the Rescue Mission to get her life on track. You help those who have lost hope know that their lives matter and that they can start again. Thank you for your support!
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