Kelly
Garrison, NY
2009
Ever since she was a little girl, Kelly had a deep sense of longing. Nothing seemed to fill the void inside.
Kelly tried sports, Girl Scouts, friendships, grades. And with a chaotic home life, escaping to other activities helped Kelly cope.
“I didn’t have any structure in my high school years,” Kelly shares.
By the time Kelly graduated from high school, she had a full-blown addiction to narcotics.
Seeking approval, Kelly began a relationship with a man fifteen years older than her, which became violent and abusive. “He introduced me to crack cocaine and heroin, and he forced me into prostitution to support our habit.”
At just twenty years old, Kelly was living in a truck in the back of a Walmart parking lot. Feeling at her lowest moment, she called her mom. “I can’t live like this anymore,” she acknowledged, and came to Hoving Home.
“When I got to Hoving Home, I learned how much love and mercy God has,” Kelly says. “I got away from that abusive relationship and while at the home assisted our outreach coordinator. I was able to be used by God in such a mighty way to change lives, instead of all my hurt and pain being to vain.”
But the enemy fought hard for Kelly’s soul … and when Kelly stepped away from Hoving Home, she plunged back into a lifestyle of drug abuse and crime. She was kidnapped, held at gunpoint, and raped. Kelly’s family staged an intervention to get her back to Hoving Home.
“I indulged myself into the Word,” Kelly recalls. “I knew that God had saved me for a reason.”
Kelly rededicated her life to Christ and embraced the forgiveness of Jesus.
After finishing the program, Kelly met her husband, got a new job, and became part of a loving church community. Today, she’s “mom” to two amazing kids and serves as an outreach coordinator at church, which helps people escaping addiction and domestic violence. She’s truly sharing with others the love and compassion she received from the Lord.
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