Renewal Story: Jennifer

“It was a grim, dark life,” Jennifer remembers about her years of substance abuse. “I had given up completely.”

Then Jennifer discovered she was pregnant. “It gave me hope, which I’d never had before.” She stopped doing drugs and enjoyed her longest period of sobriety. But after Evan’s birth, “One time using drugs turned into two times. No matter how guilty I felt, I’d find myself doing it again. I wasn’t strong enough.”

Jennifer’s first few years of motherhood were marked by calls from Child Protective Services, jail time and attempts at rehab. During her last time in rehab, she heard about UGM-TC. “It was the only chance I had,” she says.

Jennifer now lives in our Family Center and she has hope again. “This is a really good program,” she says. “You have everything you need. They have amazing programs for the children. Evan loves it here, with all the children he gets to play with.”

Jennifer prays for her continued recovery and for permanent housing for herself and Evan. “Every step I take is for him. I know my childhood had a lot to do with the trauma I deal with now. I don’t want him to feel like drugs are the way to copy. The cycle can be broken.”