For Erin, Things Went Terribly Wrong . . . Very Early

Erin had her first child at 17. Still living with her parents, she dropped out of school and got a job. Then at 20, she and her 3-year-old daughter moved into their own apartment. Although Erin was excited to be living on her own, she soon discovered she wasn’t ready for the responsibility of being a single mom.

“The guy I was hanging out with started me on drugs,” Erin shares, and her life tumbled out of control. “I ended up signing custody of my daughter over to my parents.” Throughout the next 10 years, Erin continued abusing drugs and had two more children who were eventually placed in foster care. Yet as she grew older, she also felt a growing need to be a mother to her daughter and two sons—the beautiful blessings she’d cast aside so recklessly—and she made a commitment to her children to change her life.

Erin entered a drug treatment program, and once she completed it, regained custody of her kids. She was now also mature enough to recognize that without a job and little experience or education, she wasn’t prepared to make it on her own. She came to our Hope Family Center for help, and we assured her she had come to the right place.

Through our H.E.A.R.T. program, Erin is reading the Bible and overcoming life-dominating habits through a newfound trust in God. She’s learning sound parenting and life skills, and how to manage a budget and set goals for her family’s future so she can make permanent changes to end the cycle of community dependency.

Erin and her little ones are looking forward to the holidays at Hope Family Center—sharing Christmas dinner and opening presents with other women and boys and girls who have become like family. Christmas has a deeper meaning with Christ in her life and she believes her faith will grow even stronger as she continues to follow His star.

Your gifts and prayers this Christmas season allow Hope Ministries to be a guiding star for Erin—and for hundreds of other downtrodden and weary men, women and families who have made the decision to let Christ light their way. God bless you.

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