When Donna was six years old, she was adopted by parents who were devoted to going to church and teaching their kids about Jesus.
On the outside, family life appeared normal, but on the inside, Donna struggled.
Donna had deep feelings of abandonment. She struggled with accepting love.
Donna escaped to friends’ houses or her room.
In middle school, the most important goal of Donna’s was fitting in. The void she felt in her life began to get filled by drugs and even alcohol. She and her friends hated life and authority. Donna’s rebellion led to deep disrespect to her mom. Inside, she was simply coping … angry at her birth parents … feeling rejected … blaming God for her circumstances.
When Donna was in her early 20s, she gave birth to her son. But she wasn’t in a place to care for him. She spiraled into a cocaine addiction, eventually living in a crack house.
Years passed before Donna’s parents convinced her to enter a detox center. She was so weak; she spent the first couple of days in a wheelchair. But in God’s faithfulness, Donna got stronger, eventually joining a faith-based program for women living with addiction.
Donna surrendered her life to Jesus and received His forgiveness. “He saved me from the deadly, uncompromising grip of addiction,” she proclaims!
After completing the program, Donna earned a two-year Bible school degree in Christian Addiction Counseling. Today, she works full-time in ministry, helping others struggling with addiction!
“My son is now 28 and my parents are aging,” Donna shares. “At first, my mom used to refer to me as ‘Donna’ around my son. But this year, she referred to me as his mom.”
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Beverly was raised in a loving church and gave her heart to Jesus when she was seven years old. But the ongoing influences around her developed a stronghold and warred against her faith.
By the age of 13, Beverly began drinking and smoking to “fit in.” She was constantly straddling the fence between being a Christian and living in sin. Deep down she knew that what she was doing was wrong, but she couldn’t stop. She tried everything she could to fill the emptiness inside, but it was never enough.
Although she got married and had children, attended church regularly, and even taught Sunday School, she was always drawn back to a substance – and she tried many.
Eventually, alcohol cost her everything – a good job, a home, her family. She even went to jail twice due to multiple DUIs.
After trying to get sober at multiple secular rehabs, at the age of 48, Beverly decided that she needed more. She tried different programs but was trapped in a cycle of recovery and relapse.
In 2019, she hit the lowest point in her life – and for the first time seriously considered taking her own life. But God had other plans.
The Lord drew her out of that pit and gave her another opportunity to surrender to Him. And she did. “I needed time to find out who I was, and He gave it to me,” she recalls. “He gave me time to heal.”
In 2022, Beverly graduated from the Hoving Home. She finally discovered who she truly is, and she put an end to the relapse cycle.
Beverly served at Hoving Home, giving back to the ministry that helped her on her journey. Today, Beverly is restored to her family, helping her mother and connecting with her family.
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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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Breanne was in eighth grade when her mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“She fought like a warrior, but seeing her suffer left me angry,” Breanne remembers.
To cope with her mom’s sickness, Breanne started to experiment with drugs and alcohol as a teenager. It made her feel like a normal kid, instead of one whose mom was dying in front of her eyes.
The cycle of addiction traveled with Breanne to college, back to home, and to every job she had. The drugs only got harsher and stronger … mushrooms, opiates, heroin. Despite overdosing and waking up in a bathtub with a cracked rib, Breanne was in complete denial.
Breanne plunged into the evil and dark side of addiction and life on the streets. “I endured things a woman experiences while being homeless. Prostitution. Overdoses. Rapes. Assaults. I was trafficked.”
Against all hope, Breanne entered a detox program in New Jersey when two women came in … “glowing.” “They told us about the freedom, peace, and contentment they found in Jesus,” Breanne says. “They had what I searched for my entire life.”
God used Hoving Home’s outreach in this facility to show Breanne she matters.
Since Breanne didn’t grow up going to church, she encountered the personal love of God for the very first time at Hoving Home. After entering our doors as an atheist, she surrendered her past, her trauma, and her mistakes to Jesus’ Lordship. The time, space, and freedom she had to sit with God was exactly what other detox programs couldn’t offer.
It’s been over 6 years since Breanne graduated from Hoving Home! Today, Breanne is married to a wonderful man and is stepmom to a beautiful little girl.
Breanne also shares her story with other women who are living in darkness and despair as one of our Outreach Coordinators.
“It’s an honor to remind them that they are never too far gone,” Breanne shares. “They’re the ‘one’ the Lord will chase down. Just like he did for me.”
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Liz suffered life-altering trauma when she was six years old.
Her experience led her to carry anxiety her entire childhood.
She never had an identity of her own … so she learned to place her identity in the approval of other people.
As a young woman, Liz entered toxic relationships with men. Without knowing who she was, she let her partners tell her. She turned to alcohol to cope with the stress and pain.
She was dying inside … while her relationships with her family and her children were deteriorating, too. Liz knew she needed help, and was open to trying Hoving Home, a safe place of refuge where her own sister experienced recovery many years before.
“It took a whole year to really get my identity back,” Liz adds. “And I just can’t thank Hoving Home enough for what it did for me.”
Liz left behind all her toxic relationships that were holding her hostage.
She is sober and no longer desires alcohol. She has reconciled with her children. And she’s found an amazing church that builds her up into the image of Christ! The way she explains her transformation is beautiful …
“It was like God was holding out His hands saying, ‘Here, rest in me and find yourself.’”
And Liz is so grateful!
“I am thankful to Hoving Home for helping me find my identity in Christ and living a happy, healthy life for myself and my children.”
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Shannon grew up on Long Island, the youngest of three children. Her father was an alcoholic, making home life unstable and chaotic.
“He was abusive and aggressive and just screamed and yelled,” Shannon recalls. “He was someone me and my siblings were very afraid of.”
When Shannon was only seven years old, her father abused her and then her parents got divorced. Her dad was arrested and removed from their home. While necessary, it was devastating to Shannon. She even felt that she was the reason her family was torn apart.
Shannon’s mom began drinking heavily, and it didn’t take long before Shannon started to drink and do drugs to escape. She started seeking validation from men, which only led to more destructive feelings and choices.
One older man Shannon dated started grooming her for a life on the streets.
Isolated from friends and family, Shannon began to hate herself.
She knew she needed help, and in a moment of clarity, she reached out to her family for help.
First she went to the emergency room to get physically well. In the hospital, Shannon’s parents called Hoving Home and Shannon did intake from the hospital bed!
“There was calmness and security for me, especially coming out of the lifestyle I lived,” Shannon adds.
Hearing the Gospel, Shannon surrendered her life to Jesus. Little by little, she learned to listen to the Holy Spirit and began to know the feeling of unconditional love.
After graduating from the program, Shannon began an internship through our Emerging Leaders program. From there, she was offered the Business Manager position at our California home!
“I’m thankful to the Hoving Home, because they introduced me to Jesus, and that really saved my life,” Shannon shares.
She finds hope in the resurrected Christ because her life, too, has been completely restored.
“I wasn’t meant to be a drug addict and prostitute,” Shannon affirms. “God has so much more for me.”
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Skin and bones, sick and destitute.
Erica will never forget how far she plunged into a life of addiction and dangerous relationships.
“I was 94 pounds and in extreme denial,” she shares.
Even though she managed to work as an English teacher for many years, Erica continued to drink in excess, often blacking out and losing track of days. Eventually, she was let go from her job for being high on school property.
That’s when her family staged an intervention.
She had two options: get help from a recovery facility or lose all contact with her family.
God used the open door to lead Erica to Hoving Home.
“The heart transformation started around the third month. The denial scales came off my eyes, and I started to get honest about what I was going through,” Erica shares.
After she started to open up to God, Erica didn’t have withdrawal symptoms or detox issues. She could see the pain, fear, and insecurity that drove her toward substance abuse.
“It was miraculous,” she expresses.
“When I completed the program, I decided to accept an offer to work at Hoving Home as a full-time staff member.”
That first offer has turned into 15 years of ministry!
Erica is thriving and sharing what she’s learned with other women. She shares …
“I get to use all my skills, all of my education background, and my life experiences to pour into our curriculum and help others go where I’ve been and walk where I’ve walked and learn that the Lord has a plan for their lives. It’s amazing!”
Walking with God has ultimately given Erica new freedom.
For years, she carried the shame and guilt of her past. It took a long time to remove, but now, that shame is gone. As the popular Christian song goes, “The chains are gone; I’ve been set free; my God, my Savior, has ransomed me.”
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Norma wasn’t raised in the church and never had a desire to know Jesus. But everything changed when she overdosed on valium and alcohol in 1985.
While passed out, Norma vividly recalls what she encountered … a pinpoint of light growing bigger. With a great flash of light, a man appeared. “I was overwhelmed by the love He had for me,” she says.
Norma tried to run to the man, but a dark mist was in her way, and he left. As she cried out, she felt someone slap her face and yell …
It was a police officer. He thought Norma was dead. After having her stomach pumped and two shots of adrenaline administered, Norma was released to go home.
Not knowing a better way, Norma continued in her addiction, living in a rundown trailer with her two small children. There was no running water, and they had to use public showers to bathe. She kept the windows closed and the doors shut and locked, her paranoia cutting her off from the outside world.
One morning, while sober, Norma awoke to the stark reality of her life. She decided she didn’t want to live like that anymore and planned to commit suicide.
As Norma’s hands reached for the pills, suddenly there was a knock on her door, and a woman was standing there with a cake and asked, “Why are you about to throw away God’s greatest gift?”
This woman told her about Jesus, and Norma accepted Him into her heart. That day, Norma decided to follow Jesus. She came to the Hoving Home to regain stability and health, and allowed Jesus to change her life completely.
Today, Norma is the wife and mother God intended her to be.
We praise God for the miracles in Norma’s life and the fresh start so many other women will experience through God’s grace at Hoving Home!
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You put Jill on a path to a fresh start
Jill grew up with a loving, supportive family. She was very involved in church and youth group. But curiosity can get the best of anyone …
In high school, Jill started hanging out with the wrong crowd and began experimenting with drugs.
“I liked the feeling and got confidence from it,” Jill shares.
Sadly, Jill plunged into a toxic relationship that was physically and mentally abusive. She and her partner did drugs together, and she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
“In order to cope with the mental abuse, I got hooked on pills just to deal with it,” Jill adds. When the abuse got worse than ever, Jill started doing heroin.
Thankfully, Jill’s parents were there to help and encouraged her to enter a Christian program.
Jill visited some programs, but when she walked into our New York Home, she saw joy on the ladies’ faces … something she wanted so much for herself.
“I didn’t even think that was possible for me,” Jill recalls.
After working through detox, Jill entered our program. She got clean, she broke up with the man who abused her, and she developed friendships and a sisterhood with the other ladies.
Today, Jill is married to a wonderful Christian man. She has a great job and church family. She is thankful to have a fresh start and freedom from the addiction that held her captive for so long.
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Kaitee was adopted when she was only two months old. Even though she was too young to recall the experience, the heart has a way of remembering.
“I dealt with rejection issues and low self-worth,” Kaitee shares. “Even though my adoptive parents let me know about my past, I didn’t know how to process it.”
Kaitee started struggling with depression before high school and started to self-medicate by smoking weed and drinking alcohol. Before long, she was doing harder drugs and cutting herself.
In and out of psychiatric hospitals and programs, Kaitee was caught in a cycle of doing better and then relapsing. She hit her lowest point in 2013.
“I had lost everything, living on the streets,” she shares.
In desperation for her daughter’s life, Kaitee’s mom started praying fervently for her.
While Kaitee was in detox, her mom and her best friend stayed up all night praying. God answered by helping Kaitee wake up the next day with a renewed mind and readiness to get help at Hoving Home.
“Hoving Home is where I met Jesus and surrendered my life,” Kaitee shares. “He completely healed my mind and I learned how to have a relationship with Him.”
After some internships and different ministry roles, Kaitee got married and they had their first child this year! Kaitee learned that she has a purpose and an identity in Christ!
Kaitee adds, “I know that all those years leading up to this, He was preparing me to serve in ministry, to be a wife, and a mother.”
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