I am a resident at Magdalene House. I am also an alcoholic and an addict. I can not tell you how far I've come without telling you where I've been. I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida and raised by loving parents in a supportive environment, so I have no idea where I went wrong. I started doing drugs at 17 and was addicted to crack by the time I was 18. I went to rehab numerous times but continued to smoke crack until I moved to Jacksonville, Florida.

I got pregnant with my twins at the age of 20 and had another son soon after they were born. I started drinking and doing pills and soon after started working in strip bars and using cocaine again. I gave my youngest son to his father when he was 2 years old and never had custody of him again. I raised my twins for 6 years going through stages of drinking, smoking crack and shooting up cocaine. My twins went through a lot with me…..their father finally took them from me when they were 6 years old. I really went wild then; my addiction grew in to a big monster and became uncontrollable. I overdosed twice during this time. I met a man and moved away from Jacksonville with him and spent 2 years in a very abusive relationship. I kept in contact by phone, with my twins and moved back to Jacksonville when they were 8. I did this for a few months then got back into drugs. Their father cut ties with me and for good reason.

You would think I had hit my bottom by now, but there is more. I started prostituting out of the strip bar I was working in and picked up my first prostitution charge. I decided then to move to Nashville, Tennessee to go to rehab and ended up smoking crack again. This is where my life as a prostitute began. I walked the streets at first and would have no idea where I was going to sleep that night or if I would even have anywhere to go. I went days without sleeping, eating or even bathing. I had lost all contact with my children and family. I was used and abused all the time, so when I met my first pimp I thought it was the answer to my prayers. I had plenty of dope, a hotel to stay in and I thought I had found someone who really loved me. The things I went through with this man seemed like a movie to me. I was beat, used to do illegal things, emotionally abused…..he took all my identification so I couldn't leave. I tried to leave once and he found me, beat me held a gun to my head and shaved my head bald. I stayed so high I barely knew who I was anymore. My family thought I was dead…..I wanted to be dead and saw no way out. I knew I was going to die in my addiction. I got my way out when we all went to jail. I did 6 months in jail. When I got out I went to other pimps and got sick of it all and went to rehab in North Carolina, left rehab there and went back out on the streets, got beat up some more and did the same thing in Myrtle Beach.

I was sitting in a hotel room in Conway, South Carolina when I said, "enough"! I went to rehab there and while trying to find a transitional home…..I found the Magdalene House. By the Grace of God, the Director, Freda Lewis, interviewed me and accepted me into the program; that was the day I began my journey I'm on today. When I got to the Magdalene House I had no ID, had not worked a real job in years and was allowed to talk to my kids twice a month. I had not seen my twins in 6 years. I got a job right away and started going to meetings, doing devotion every morning and started counseling. When I got to the Magdalene House, I was so broken and lost I just wanted to run again. Everyone had given up on me but the director of the Magdalene House saw something in me and never gave up. She is my mentor and angel. I stuck with the program and did everything they said and slowly my life started changing and so did I. I am not the same person who walked through the doors of the Magdalene House. I work a fulltime job now and have a relationship with my mother that grows everyday. I have been reunited with my twins after not seeing them for 6 years. The director took me to Florida to visit with my twins….we were there for 3 days last month (October) and it was the most life changing event that has ever happened in my life. I now talk to my twins everyday. I am part of their daily lives. I am no longer the prostitute, crack addict who was going to die out on the streets.

To look at me now you would never know I was that girl. I stay involved in NA and AA and even chair meetings now. I have a new family and am regaining my old one. My son that I gave up when he was 2 was adopted out and just recently his adopted mother contacted me and wants to work on me building a relationship with him. I will be going back to school soon and plan to be a medical transcriptionist. All this from a girl who couldn't go one hour without getting high. A girl who would have died out there if it wasn't for the Magdalene House. I can't finish this without giving thanks to my higher power who I choose to call GOD. I don't go to church and am not religious and still struggle with my spirituality on a daily basis, but anyone can see what He's doing in my life. I am still a work in progress, but even I can see the great things that are going to happen in my life. God saved me from death to do something great and I now have the opportunity to fulfill my life's purpose. Thanks to God, the Magdalene House and all the people who believe in me.

Please consider supporting the Magdalene House so they can continue to reach women like me that need another chance at life….The Magdalene House has been for me and will be for other women a loving, safe place for women to recover and grow.