Joann longed for a happy life filled with meaning and purpose. But all she knew was poverty, homelessness and a single mother who never gave her any direction or sense of worth. “I didn’t grow up right or learn what it means to be a good woman,” Joann says. “I felt like a nobody.”

Eventually, she turned to drugs and alcohol to fill the emptiness inside. “I just wanted to feel good. Instead, I wound up lost in addiction for 10 years,” she says. Along the way, Joann had children of her own, and her love for them finally drove her to change her life. “It got to the point where I couldn’t take care of them anymore.” She wanted to give them what she’d longed for as a child – love, guidance and stability. But she knew she needed help to become the mother she hoped to be, so she left her children in safe hands and came to the Mission.

Since then, Joann has grown spiritually and healed emotionally thanks to our Christ-centered classes and counseling. “I accepted Jesus as my savior and put my trust in God,” she says. “And I’ve learned new ways to think about myself. Now, I realize that I am somebody.” Through life skills classes, job training and one-on-one coaching, Joann developed the tools she needs to live a life of purpose. Now, she has a full-time job as a CNA that she loves, has her own home and has purchased her own car! “I know that I can take care of my family and have a fulfilling life.”

“The Mission gave me the time to be still and learn about God. I was spiritually dead, but now I’m alive in Christ.”