10 Sep Breana’s heart is filled with GRATITUDE for YOU!
“Now I have a purpose in life. I’ve been restored.”
When Mike’s mother passed away, the loss was especially devastating since he lost his dad just a few years before.
Breana grew up longing to be loved. “My parents’ addiction left me feeling abandoned and heartbroken as a child,” she says. “I came to believe I wasn’t worthy of love.”
When she was 13, Breana began numbing her pain with drugs, and by the time she was 16, she was staying away from home for months at a time, living with friends, staying on the streets, or sleeping in abandoned cars. Her parents didn’t come to find her.
For nearly a decade, she continued struggling with addiction, costing her jobs and eventually landing her in prison. It was there, at her lowest point, that she had an encounter with Christ that changed her forever.
After her release, Breana relapsed, but she couldn’t forget the Lord’s love. “I wanted that relationship back. That made me want to change,” she says. “I just didn’t know how.”
It was then she entered our Higher Ground addiction recovery program, and through chapel services, Bible studies, and Christian counseling, she grew strong in her faith and found healing for her heart. “I got to truly know God and He showed me that I’m worthy of love,” she says. “Now when feelings of rejection or abandonment come, I’m able to speak truth over them.”
Breana graduated from the program, completed Wheeler Mission’s EQUIP internship, and moved into her own place. She’s now the Supervisor of Restored Creations, our social enterprise that markets handcrafted items by women in our Center for Women and Children. Meanwhile, she’s earning a bachelor’s degree in business management, with plans to someday open an aftercare facility for women in recovery.
This Thanksgiving season – and all through the year – your kind generosity fills hearts with hope and gratitude, and transforms lives through God’s love! “I was lost, but now I have a purpose in life. Because of the Lord and Wheeler Mission, I’ve been restored.”
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