Vikki is no stranger to fear. She’s experienced seasons of homelessness that saw her sleeping in other people’s homes, on the streets, in her car, even dope houses. Pain and abuse in her childhood led to experimenting with drugs in her young adult years. She’s...
"God's going to use my story!" When Anthony, 55, looks back on his life so far, he sees a story filled with twists and turns. He’s had happy moments—like when he first found faith at age 18 or when he met his future wife as a...
Another New Beginning Five years ago this month, Tiffany was in a hospital bed after having attempted to end her life. Decades of addiction and hurt had stolen her desire to live. Some of her memories around that traumatic time are blurry, but there’s one instance she...
In 2012, Ron was in a car accident that should’ve ended his life. In the chaos and trauma, he recalls feeling something strange. “It’s like it was God’s presence right there with me,” he remembers. “It was the first time in my life I’d ever...
When Petra thinks back to past Christmases with her children, she remembers hardship. “I have kids’ birthdays in October, November and December, so I’d save up for their birthday gifts. But that meant there was hardly anything left for Christmas gifts, and we could never...
Donnie knows what hunger—deep, gnawing hunger—feels like. “There are times in the past when I’ve gone two or three or four days without eating. It affects your mind along with your body.” He knows what homelessness is like, too. “Living in a tent camp is hard...
Angel is no stranger to the pain of homelessness. “It’s hard not knowing where you’re going to get your next meal . . . when you’re going to get your next shower,” she says. “You sleep with your shoes on because you don’t know when...
At age 35, Nick found himself living on a concrete slab outside of a school. Everything he owned was in a laundry basket. “I was a 96-pound methamphetamine addict. I was completely broken, completely shattered, completely without hope.” Nick’s heartbreaking struggles began when his mom was...
Only weeks after losing her mom, Brea—who’d struggled for years with drug addiction—was arrested and jailed. “I was addicted to heroin and deep into the lifestyle,” she says. “Life had been pretty bad for awhile but it finally came to this head-on collision.” Brea’s lowest point, though,...
It was a rainy day in February 2013. With only the clothes he was wearing, Chuck left the house where he’d been staying temporarily with one goal in mind: Find a downtown Des Moines drug house. But at the last minute he turned on to 6th...