Ashley’s Success Story

It was a little over 20 months ago when I walked into the probation office and asked my supervising officer to put me back in jail. I was using a version of meth known as “Bath Salts” and I couldn’t quit. I told the officer I needed to be incarcerated to stop me from killing myself.

At the time, I had four kids and we were bouncing from house to house. Most of the time my family members took care of my kids, especially when I was on the streets.  I knew I couldn’t take care of my kids any longer and family members and the Department of Child and Family Services were helping me.  I needed to go somewhere where I couldn’t get access to drugs.

My supervising officer took me before the judge, who said that because I came forward and asked for help, she would send me to the local jail, instead of prison. After seven months in jail, my attorney visited. He said he heard about a program at the Rescue Mission. It was faith-based and 13-months long. If I agreed to do it, he thought the judge would release me.

To me his words were a prompting from God. It was like God was telling me, “You need to do this.” I told my attorney “yes” and was released into the Rescue Mission’s New Life Program, at the Women’s Center.

I have lived on and off the street of Utah and used drugs regularly since I was 13. There were many abuses that happened to me early in my life. Living on the streets at 13 years old, the adult homeless population introduced me to drugs. I think I started using drugs to put the memories of my childhood out of my mind. Later, in 2015, my mother and one of my children (a 2-month baby- girl named Lyrik) were murdered by a man for no apparent reason at their house in Salt Lake City. The man was mentally ill and despite being hospitalized and incarcerated for the past nine years, he has not gone on trial yet.

That tragedy sent me further into addiction and despair. I lived on and off the streets and in and out of jail. I eventually landed in prison.

At the Rescue Mission I was able to learn about the one true God, and the love and forgiveness offered by Jesus. I was able to look back at my life and see how many times my addiction should have killed me. I saw how many times God protected me. In those times, I could see God calling me to Him even when I didn’t think He was there.

The hardest part of completing the New Life Program was going through the Genesis Process educational curriculum. The Genesis Process resurfaces past traumas and helps you to talk through them and learn God’s truth. I had to reconsider the abuse I suffered as a child and came to forgive my abusers. I was even able to find forgiveness for the man who killed my mother and daughter. It was hard but also freeing.

I have connected with a great local church, Capital Church. The people there don’t judge me and are welcoming and accepting. I was baptized there earlier this month.

I have a good, stable job at a local printing company and love the people I work with. I have been saving money and was able to get my driver’s license (I never had one before) and purchase a car. By the end of November, I will graduate from the New Life Program and move into a home that my sister rents out. I am working with DCFS and the courts to regain custody of two of my children and if all goes well, they will be moving in with me.

Please pray that I will continue to stay connected with “my community” (my church, the other graduates of the New Life Program, and the Mission staff). Also, pray for God’s will about reconnecting with my children, including the two that will come live with me. Pray I can be a good mom to them. Thank you so much for supporting the Rescue Mission. This place has truly changed my life and has been used by God to heal my deepest wounds.