17 Aug Michelle is Living in Recovery
As we prepare to expand our Center for Women & Children in Indianapolis, we want to share stories of transformation and hope. Many thanks to our volunteer and guest author, Alex Pollock, for interviewing our ladies and telling their stories.
A troubled beginning
Michelle was raised by two functioning alcoholics: “They were both beautiful wonderful people, but they had problems,” Michelle said.
Once Michelle was grown and on her own, she fell in love. She got married, but the relationship immediately became turbulent. Years later, after the birth of their two children, she and her husband divorced and she made a living doing hair.
Falling fast
Michelle began self-medicating. Her drug use led her to being complacent about her children’s education, and they were eventually removed from her care after they missed too many days of school.
“Everything became unbalanced,” she said. “My habit overtook my priorities. My priorities got mixed up. I was a stay-at-home drinker, a stay-at-home partier.” By this time, Michelle had given birth to a third child, a daughter, who later went to live with Michelle’s sister. Michelle tried rehab, but relapsed. This time, she was charged with public intoxication and put on probation.
“I had no place to go. My car broke down, and that’s when I gave it up,” she said. “I called out to God. I had hit rock bottom.”
Owning her faith
A contact at Eskenazi set Michelle up with an emergency shelter bed at Wheeler’s Center for Women & Children. After 45 days, she joined our Higher Ground Addiction Recovery Program. In the program, she began to heal and reconnect with the Lord. Higher Ground helped her apply her faith to all aspects of her life: her family, finances, emotions, health, and relationships.
Living in recovery
Today, Michelle is living in recovery and learning work skills at Wheeler’s Restored Creations, the social enterprise of the Center for Women & Children. In Restored Creations, Michelle has a therapeutic outlet in the form of candle making, while simultaneously practicing transferable, job-related skills. “I want to finish my life good,” she said. “I want to make my children proud.”
Michelle plans on joining Wheeler’s Equip program when she graduates from Higher Ground. Her advice for those struggling with addiction: “You have to take responsibility for the choices you make. If you have pain, you have to find out what’s causing that pain. You have to dissect the negatives and reinforce God’s truth . . . I love being at Wheeler. They have been so good to me.”
Thank you for caring for the guests of Wheeler Mission. To help us grow our Center for Women & Children and provide help to even more women like Michelle, go here.