Gwen’s Story

When I moved to Georgia at fifteen years old, I had no idea that I would end up with nowhere to turn. 

I was adopted at three days old and had a good upbringing overall. I was raised by two parents alongside my adopted brother and sister in Detroit, Michigan. Our family made our way down to Georgia fifteen years ago when we were looking for a change in lifestyle. However, this change led me to a five-year prison sentence that ended up severing family ties. 

This is truly what brought me to the mission – losing family support… And when I got out of prison in November, I didn’t have anywhere to go. 

I found myself at a dead end with nowhere to go when I got out of prison. During my prison sentence and time at the halfway house, my family moved back to Detroit, leaving me with no option but homelessness. Plus, I was eight months pregnant. So, I entered a homeless shelter but was not allowed to have kids or be pregnant there. 

I was heavily pregnant, with no family, no resources, still working at the time to prepare for maternity leave, and freshly out of prison. My only place of support was the shelter. They let me stay for two weeks while they found me somewhere else to go and that’s when I was referred to Restoration House. 

Everything changed when I set foot in Restoration House. I was instantly greeted by inviting, comforting people. It felt like, for the first time in a long time, people cared for me, they prayed for me, and I felt it. It was like a second home.  

I gave birth to the first baby born at Restoration House. I was nervous leading up to her birth. This was my first child, I was just returning to normal life after being in the system, and I was living in a shelter for the first time. It felt like everything was hitting me at once. But, I felt supported the whole way through with one Restoration House staff member saying, “If you want me to come get you [from the hospital], just call me. I will be there to come get you”. And others offered to be there during the birth of my daughter, Nefertiti. 

We stayed at the hospital for three days and then went back to Restoration House. We had a whole room of stuff waiting for us. As a new mother, the love I felt was overwhelming. I cried. It was touching to say the least. And, like any new parent, it was hard to adjust. But, they made it easy for me because they were there. The staff were supportive and they would always ask me, “Do you need anything? You want me to watch her for a few minutes while you take a breather?” They were just always, in any kind of way they could be, supportive. 

I made the decision to continue my program at My Sister’s House. The classes are my favorite. They give me an opportunity to learn more about myself and grow my relationship with God. I never really pursued His purpose for my life. But they gave me a reason to look into that and now my faith is stronger than ever before. 

Now, I feel blessed every day when I wake up. I am happy to share my story with others and speak about prison, overcoming addiction, homelessness, and motherhood. More than anything, I feel like God wants me to do this. He made me a peer leader. I didn’t want to do it but He knew that I could handle it.  

I’m working on more permanent housing. I hope to stay on the right track and raise my daughter with the best attitude I can so that I can provide a stable, wonderful life for her and myself. Restoration House helped me work through some things I was struggling with on the inside, so now I can work on having something better, a home.