“The Mission gave me the tools to change.”
Melanie had been a social drinker for many years, but when her eight-year marriage fell apart, she began abusing alcohol to numb the pain of her broken heart… and wound up losing much more. 
“I damaged the relationships that were most important to me… those with my daughters,” she says. “And I lost my faith in God.”
Eventually, Melanie was fired from her job and evicted from her home. “A friend recommended I come to the Mission for a place to stay and help with my addiction,” she says.
“Coming here opened my eyes to what my life had become.”
Melanie entered our Gateway Program and, through AA meetings and life skills classes, she developed healthy ways to process her pain. “I learned how to get through life without depending on alcohol,” she says.
As a result, her relationship with her daughters has now been restored. They talk regularly and the girls have even come to the Mission for dinner. “Our relationship is growing stronger all the time,” Melanie says.
Her relationship with the Lord has grown stronger, as well. “My faith is slowly starting to rebuild,” she says. “I now know God has a purpose for me.”
Through the program, Melanie also received vocational skills training in our kitchen. “We prepared and served breakfast, lunch and dinner and I assisted our manager with catering. She helped me develop a lot of skills I didn’t have before,” she says.
Melanie’s new skills helped her land a job in restaurant management and save enough money to move into her own place. This Christmas, as she celebrates Christ’s birth with her daughters in her new home, she’ll also celebrate the joyous new life she found inside our doors… because of your compassion. “The Mission gave me the tools to get back on my feet and the opportunity to change. Now, I’m on the right path.”
To read our Holiday 2018 issue of A New Dawn, click here.
Help other people like Melanie…
Melanie’s story of hope and healing is inspiring. Our New Life Programs exist to help other men and women in the Coachella Valley find healing. Will you help provide this help to others?
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