Caitlin's Story

“I was 23 when I discovered meth and it pretty much ruined my life.”

Caitlin knows firsthand what it means to suffer loss. Abandoned by her mother, she was forced to grow up around her uncle, who sexually abused her. By age ten, she was dealing with serious mental health challenges, including severe anxiety, depression, self-harm, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

To cope with her pain and isolation, Caitlin turned to alcohol and drugs, which carried over into adulthood. “I was 23 when I discovered meth and it pretty much ruined my life,” she says. A single mother of twins, she was coming out of an abusive relationship, and her addiction made everything worse.

“I couldn't stand myself."

Caitlin eventually lost her kids and wound up homeless for nearly five years. “I was literally on my hands and knees pleading and begging God to just save me,” she says. “I couldn't stand myself. My family didn't want anything to do with me. I didn't know how to go on. I was on the brink of trying to take my own life and I had one of two choices—to either do that or find the alternative.”

Caitlin says her children inspired her to choose to fight for her life and her recovery. She knew a woman who had gone through the program at the Mission. “I saw her life and how it had changed. And I thought …, ‘Wow. I want that for myself.’”

“The Mission loved me until I could learn to love myself.”

At the Mission, Caitlin found the love and support she needed to make a lasting change. “I could feel God’s presence from the moment I walked into the doors,” she says. “I knew I was about to leave my old life behind and start something new.”

“The Mission loved me until I could learn to love myself,” Caitlin says. “They gave me a community of warriors who held me up and supported me when I couldn't stand. They also introduced me to the concept of forgiveness from my heavenly Father which allowed me let go of the resentments that consumed my life and held me captive for so long.”

Today, Caitlin is no longer clinically anxious or depressed. Best of all, she is able to enjoy a loving and stable relationship with her kids. 

"I’m a mother again."

“The biggest change I’ve seen in myself is that I’m a mother again,” Caitlin says. While at Hope Place, she gained split custody of her boys, which allowed them to visit her. “Having my children come back into my life and be a part of what’s going on at Hope Place was a game changer. They instantly felt at home … and they knew that their mommy was getting better.”

Caitlin credits God for her life today. “God has restored me from the inside out. I am now capable to wake up in the morning … experience true happiness from within, and a loving and safe relationship with my kids.”