“Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

You made it possible for Lauren to heal after experiencing homelessness.

Lauren and her younger brother climbed in the backseat of their mother’s car. Her mother had been drinking, again. But that was something Lauren was used to. Both of her parents were heavy alcohol users. They would drink, then fight. It was an endless cycle of turmoil in her home growing up. And when her father had enough, he left the family. That was when Lauren was just nine.

Now almost a year later, Lauren and her brother were riding down the road with her mother in the driver’s seat. Little did Lauren know that her world would unravel in a moment. With her mother intoxicated behind the wheel, it was too late by the time she noticed the car in front of her. The vehicles collided in a terrible car wreck.

After the crash, Lauren’s body was badly bruised, but she was lucky to be alive. But what crushed Lauren’s spirit, even more, was that she was taken away from her mother, and she didn’t see her again for seven years.

From that point on, Lauren went to live with her father. There, she continued encountering turmoil and instability. “Me and my dad were homeless for a long time. We lived in hotels or would stay at family members’ houses,” Lauren recalls.

Falling into a familiar cycle

That pattern of homelessness and addiction followed Lauren into her adult life. Even when she became a mom herself, she found herself falling into the same familiar cycle. “In my own addiction, I was not a trustworthy person. My son and I were living out of my car,” shares Lauren. “Then he was taken away to stay with his aunt.”

Lauren was devastated, but in order to get her son back, she was required to complete a recovery program. She first went to a rehab facility that helped her detox. But she knew she needed more support. She needed time to heal and work through her heart’s deeper issues. That’s when she turned to My Sister’s House, the shelter for women and children at Atlanta Mission.

“I’ve grown as a person.”

In the few months she’s been there, she can hardly believe how far she’s come. “I’m doing so much better in my life. I’ve grown as a person. I’m so proud that I made it out of the darkness,” Lauren says with relief.

Lauren feels confident that God brought her to Atlanta Mission. Not only to find freedom from addiction but to find true inner peace. She knows her time has been purposeful, and so much of her healing has come through trusted relationships built with women on Atlanta Mission’s team.

“These women are healing me spiritually. It’s beautiful and makes me want to cry,” she says holding back tears. “I feel safe here. This is the best place for me.”

God’s redemption

Spending her formative teen years without a mom was incredibly painful, but she sees how God is redeeming her story by bringing these caring mother figures into her life.

“The work these women do is amazing. They tear down your walls in the most loving, compassionate way. It’s like your mom just giving you a hug. I haven’t had a mom in my life for a long time. So these women here, they just embrace me with open arms,” Lauren says.

Hope for the future

Today, Lauren knows the journey she’s on can encourage others. She wants to mentor youth by telling her testimony of overcoming homelessness and addiction. “I want to help kids not make the same mistakes that I did,” Lauren shares. Through this, she hopes she can help more young people choose a different path.

Most of all, she’s grateful for your faithful support. “I love Atlanta Mission. From the day I walked through here, it’s been nothing but a blessing,” Lauren concludes. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”