Is This a Gift I Really Want?

It took only one night to change Tina's life forever. An adventurous 13-year-old, she headed to a party where she experimented with alcohol, drugs and sex for the first time. Weeks later, she learned she was pregnant.

Tina's father wanted her to have an abortion, so she moved in with her aunt temporarily. For the next four years, Tina and her son Trevor bounced between youth homes and relatives until she got her own apartment at 17. The bottom fell out again when she turned 18 and lost the government assistance that helped pay for their home.

"I was living in my own place, working, paying my bills and going to school part-time,” she recalls grimly. "When I lost my apartment, I started drinking, got pregnant and bounced from place to place again."

Tina's drug and alcohol use turned into a full-blown addiction. Her aunt and uncle agreed to take Tina's children, Trevor and Dakota, while she attempted to overcome her addiction in a local recovery facility. While there, she gave birth to her third child, Nautica. Once she completed that program, a judge who'd followed Tina's case since she was 13 recommended she and her children join Hope Family Center's H.E.A.R.T. program, where Tina would receive the skills and stability she needed, all at no cost!

But Tina, always independent and restless, wasn't sure she wanted to join another recovery program. Sure, Hope Family Center's "package" looked good from the outside, but was this really a gift she wanted to accept?

Reluctantly, Tina brought her family to Hope Family Center, and admits, "At first it was very hard for me to accept coming there. I'm usually very independent. But soon the love and support I received at Hope Family Center totally blew me over!"

As the weeks passed, she began to appreciate the stability and security that surrounded her family. "I have anxiety problems," she admits, "and I knew I couldn't do it all on my own. I'm only 22 and sometimes I have limited patience. But I've been building a relationship with God and, through Him, with other Christians. It's soothing the restlessness I had, and the sense that I was lost." One of the greatest gifts Tina has received through the H.E.A.R.T program is watching her son Trevor, who suffers with separation anxiety, become secure in his surroundings. "He's been through a lot, something I felt a lot of guilt and shame about. Now he knows we are staying. When we leave, we will come back. Each night we say prayers together and we're working on accountability together."

Recently, Tina and her counselor JoAnna met with the judge who'd recommended the program to Tina. JoAnna smiled as Tina told the judge the gift of Hope Family Center had been well worth opening!

"Hope Family Center has been more than I ever expected," she shared. "After all these years, it feels like people are investing in me. It's more than I dreamed it could be!