“Joy, confidence, and empowerment… that’s what Shelter KC means to me,” Tina says.
When she arrived at our door, Tina was lacking in all three of these areas. That was largely due to a traumatic experience in her youth that led her to a destructive drug addiction. “I was molested growing up and that kind of messed with me,” she says. “I became isolated and real quiet. I never talked about it and had a really rough time.”
When Tina reached her teens, she turned to drugs to try to numb the pain in her life. That started an addiction that would last for years. Even after she became a mother, Tina continued her drug use and even ratcheted up to harder drugs. “I started methamphetamines,” she says. “That’s when things went downhill for me really, really bad.”
The turning point for Tina came later in life, when she became a grandmother. She knew in her heart she had to make a change for the sake of her family. So, with the help of her daughter, she began calling around, searching for anyone who could offer hope. At her wits’ end, she dialed the last phone number on her list — the number for Shelter KC.
“I am very blessed to be at Shelter KC,” Tina says. “I have been given so many tools to help me grow. The most important one is God. I got closer to God and learned to surrender myself to Him.”
Tina has also been blessed by our counselors, who have been instrumental in helping her deal with her past and overcome her addiction. “My mentors at the shelter have helped me turn my life around,” she says. “There is a lot of love and caring.”
Now, full of joy and renewed confidence, Tina looks forward to a second chance at life and spending time with her granddaughters. She’s forever grateful for friends like you who’ve helped make it possible.
Donate to help us provide love and care to women like Tina!