Brooke’s Story

In May 2020, a severe domestic violence incident sent Brooke’s world into turmoil. Because two of her three children were in the car when the incident happened, all three were eventually removed from her care. “Being a mom was everything to me. It just broke my heart. I used alcohol to cope.”

By August of that year, Brooke was homeless, going from hotel to hotel. “The worst part was not having anywhere to turn. Because of my choices, I’d cut myself off.” Finally, desperate to do whatever it took to regain custody of her children, in September she turned to Hope Ministries for help to turn her life around.

Brooke’s early days in life recovery included the challenges of working on her sobriety and learning to live in community. One of her hardest moments was not being able to talk to her son on his birthday due to DHS arrangements. “But [the staff at Hope Center] helped me through it. It was probably one of the biggest moments where I gave up control of my life and asked God for peace.”

Hope Center staff helped Brooke prepare for her upcoming custody hearings in coming months—documenting her efforts in sobriety, therapy, parenting and life skills classes and more. They even helped her dress appropriately for the hearings and attended with her.

On the day before Thanksgiving 2020, Brooke regained custody of her sons. Soon after, on December 2, 2020, she was also awarded custody of her daughter. And this past year, on December 10, 2021—Brooke’s birthday!—her last open court case closed.

“Coming here restored everything good that I’d lost.” ~Brooke

Today, Brooke’s kids live with her at Hope Center and she’s just two classes shy of completing our full two-year program. She has a new job on the cardiac medical ICU floor at Mercy Hospital and hopes to start nursing school this August. She and her boys love Taekwondo—and her daughter will begin classes when she’s a little older. They’re active in their church and look forward to a future filled with hope, family closeness…and hopefully some travel, too.

“I’m trusting God now. I always wanted to be in control, but I’m learning I don’t have to be in control. I just have to trust Him.”