Like many of our homeless guests, Patsy struggled with addiction, homelessness and unemployment. But you won't believe the awful tragedy that plunged this long-time secretary into a lifetime of guilt.

About 20 years ago, Patsy had a fight with her boyfriend. She asked the apartment manager to intervene, not realizing he was high on drugs. He shot her boyfriend 7 times in front of her. After the first bullet hit him, her boyfriend looked at Patsy and said, "You killed me."

Patsy blamed herself for his death and tried to take her own life. When that failed, she turned to drugs. She became homeless and resorted to crime to stay alive. For decades she tried to bury her shame. It wasn't until Patsy came to the Mission that she was able to heal from this real-life nightmare.

She accepted Jesus into her heart and is now working on forgiving herself and the man who murdered her boyfriend. Since graduating from our program, she has started taking classes at a local college and is earning a degree in marketing. Plus Patsy's been sober for an entire year!

To all the donors and people at the Mission who invested in her life, Patsy just wanted to say, "Thank you so much for my new life!"