My name is Marissa Lesley.  I am 43 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I have been on and off drugs since I was 12 years old.  I never really      felt like I fit in anywhere and I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem issues.  I came from a good family.  My parents divorced when I was      young, but they were both good and loving parents.  Neither one of my parents ever had addiction problems. I started hanging out with the      wrong crowd in school and that was my...

My name is Jody Thompson, and I am a 42-year-old mom to 3 amazing kids. I was raised in church and got saved and baptized when I was young. There was
a lot of love in my family, but there was pain as well. My dad was an alcoholic which caused turmoil in our home. As I got older, there were more and more
“excuses” not to go to church. I started experiencing anxiety, depression and tension headaches and was prescribed psych and pain meds as a cure. This was
the beginning...

My name is Hasson Abuharba. I’m 29 years old. I was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. I have 8 brothers of which I am the middle child. We grew up in a household where in the earliest memories, mom would leave for weeks at a time to get high. The hard times were when we would try to chase her down from crack house to crack house. Being that little all we wanted was mom, but then things got good for a while, and mom stayed clean for some years. But then she got a divorce, and everything got...

My name is Sean Tolbert, and I am from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I have lived there most of my life, which started in 1974. My story is about a long journey of seeking contentment. I
wasn’t unhappy, but I have always felt unsatisfied, and I spent my life trying to fill a void I didn’t understand. I went to college hoping that education and a good job would satisfy me,
this was not the case. I tried traveling or roaming as well, and as it turned out being a...

My name is Michael Luttrell. I am a child of God...31 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My father was very abusive, so my mother took us and got away from him. This left me feeling angry and rejected. When I was 10 years old, my family owned a liquor store. I watched everyone drink and thought it looked like fun. I took my first drink at 13 years old, and I was instantly hooked. I watched my family do drugs and again, wanted to try to fit it. It started with marijuana and ended with meth,...

My name is Steven Lee Martin.  I was born in 1981 in St. Louis, MO. I spent my childhood around severe alcoholics.  My parents would argue a lot.  When they were at work, my brother and I spent time with my grandparents.  They would drink and argue a lot.  I can remember all the way back to 5 years old.  My grandpa was a security guard.  He would come home from work every day with a case of beer and a bottle of alcohol and get drunk and then get mean.  I guess I just assumed that was...

Hi, My name is Billy Starnes.  I’m 43 years old and was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.  I was raised by alcoholic parents who would get very angry when they drank.  When I was 13 years old, I found marijuana as an escape. This small compromise changed the course of my entire life.  By the time I was 17, I had quit school, got a job and was addicted to meth.  My job took me all over the United State building mini storage buildings.  I was also addicted to the money I was making. The more...

My name is Michael Steward.  I was raised in California by an amazing single mother, Kathy Dixon who is married to an amazing  Christian husband, Richard Dixon.  I had everything I needed as a child and most of what I wanted.  My life was really good until I started smoking pot my senior year of high school.  I went off to college and kept smoking pot instead of fulfilling my responsibilities.   I soon found myself transporting drugs from California to the school I was “sort of”...

My name is Melissa Jones.  I am 46 years old.  My life has never been what some call “normal”.  My dad was in prison until  I was around 12  years old.  Then when he  came home,  he was a  drug dealer  which  was   my introduction to cocaine, meth, marijuana and even the needle.  By the time I was 15, I was injecting cocaine and meth daily and had dropped out of school.  My dad ended up back in prison which left me with my mom who basically could not control me.  I ran...

My name is Katlyn Juergensmeyer. I’m 27 years old from Troy, Missouri.  I grew up with 2 amazing parents and 3 siblings.  Growing up life was good.  I never needed for anything in my life, or so I thought.  I soon realized that I needed Jesus. At age 16 I went on a mission trip and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I was on fire for God and went to church every time I could. All through High school I struggled to find out who I was.  That soon brought on depression,anxiety and...

Hi, my name is Chrisy Ginn. I am 50 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri. I was very depressed at a young age.  I remember crying every day at school and feeling very despondent.  This feeling has lasted most of my life – BUT GOD!  I began to self-medicate in high school and this continued until the time I came to Freedom House.  When I was 42 years old, I added methamphetamines to the “medication” and my life spiraled out of control.  I found myself homeless and broke and felt...

   My name is Brian Nix.  I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...

My name is Brittany Marie Brewer.  I am 34 years old from St. Louis, Missouri.  My mother worked really hard to raise me and my sister.  I was in beauty pageants and dance classes.  All of that changed in my early teenage years when my father introduced me to methamphetamines. This landed me in and out of several rehabs over the years.  In 2008, I found myself in an extremely abusive relationship.  One day in 2014, we were both high, arguing and driving down the road at 90 mph.  I...

My name is Stephanie Ballard.  I am 25 years old and was born in Paragould, Arkansas.  Growing up I did not have what most children had growing up.  I was born into addiction and with that I witnessed more than I should have.  My mother got shot in the neck over a drug deal gone wrong.  I was only 3 years old and I was in the back seat sleeping.  I watched my parents do everything in front of me and I felt a sense of responsibility to keep them safe.  I started doing drugs at the age...

My name is Angela Holland. I am 61 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My dad was an alcoholic and abusive to me. He would fill my bottles with alcohol before I even learned to crawl. This had a huge effect on my life. I was saved and baptized at an early age but did not really have a relationship with Jesus. By seventh grade I was drinking and smoking pot. The drug use just got worse and led to severe depression. As a result of my drug use, I eventually went to prison. While in prison, I...

My name is Matthew Montgomery.  I am from Springfield, Missouri. I was raised by my father and stepmother in a healthy, supportive home. In my early teenage years, I was always seeking attention and looking for acceptance from others. I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. In the party crowd, I finally felt like I was accepted. I went to college, but eventually got kicked out. Then I had to move back to my parents.  I felt very lost, rejected, and confused about my future. I...

My  name  is  James McNulty.  I  was born and raised in Longmont, Colorado until I was 17 years old and then I moved to Florida.  I started using drugs when  I  was 13, but  I managed to get really good grades and I graduated high school when I was 17.  I went to college, but I didn’t finish and get a degree.  I was “managing” my drug use until I was 22 and then I really went off the deep end or jumped over the cliff, whichever way you want to say it,  I  was a  mess. ...

My name is Kenna Cashion.  I am 32 years old.  I was raised by a stay-at-home mom and a truck driver dad.  I was always called a “miracle” baby. I was the first child of their marriage and came later in their lives. We always thought our family looked a little like the Brady bunch.  My mom had 4 children from a previous marriage and so did my dad. Being a “miracle” baby, they had given me to the Lord in their hearts before I was even born. The enemy has always been out to get me...

My name is Cody Ishmael. I am 24 years old and from the Jonesboro, Arkansas area.  I have 4 younger sisters and a 4-year-old son.  Growing up, I lived with my memaw because both of my parents suffered from addiction.  She always took me to church and made sure I read my Bible. I was very sheltered and hated the very thought of drugs and alcohol.  When I was a teenager, my dad came home from Federal prison and moved schools.  My addiction started off mainly because I was just trying to...

      My name is Whitney Burnette.  I am 29 years old from Wynne,...

My name is Kandy Riggs.  I am 49 years old from Sebree, Kentucky.  I am the 8th of 10 children.  When I was growing up, my father was an abusive alcoholic who shot at and stabbed us kids.  I have been married for 30 years and we have 2 children and 2 grandchildren.  I didn’t have my last child until I was 35 years old and I  had to have several surgeries as a result.  The surgeries resulted in pain medications which I became addicted to.  I would stop for periods of time, but I...

My name is Joseph Owens.  I’m 27 years old.  I was a drug addict most of my life.  I was born in Paragould, Arkansas.  I can remember times before I tried meth, but I never remember a time when it wasn’t in my life.  My parents were both addicts and dealers.  In the 2nd grade I woke up early one morning and decided to try coffee, but I didn’t know it had been made with filters from cooking dope.  My dad decided to keep me home from school that day.  I have always thought drugs...

My name is Jamie Black.  I’m 38 years old.  I grew up in a small town, Russellville, Alabama.  I had a good life with a very loving mother that was always there for me and worked really hard to provide for me.  When I was 4 years old, my father took his own life as a result of drug use, so I never really had a dad in my life.  My mother has 3 brothers and they were the ones who really raised me to be a man.  Like I said I had a good life, always played sports in school but never...

My name is Christian Robles; I am 33, I was born in California, and raised in Memphis, TN. I started working at 14 years old and was
constantly around adults who spoke about using drugs and alcohol. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me, and I started to take part in
those activities with them. It helped me to deal with the abuse I received at home. I was young, bored, and felt neglected, the enemy had
gotten a hold of me. As the years passed, I dove...

Garrison Bowen, I am 27 years old and from Hinesville, GA. I realized I needed to change my way of living when I just lost my job and had no money because of all the drugs and alcohol. It was consuming my life. Over the past 5 years, I have been in and out of Christian programs and lost many jobs due to my anger or other actions. After the last program, I thought I had it all figured out. However, I was still drinking, smoking weed and trying to help my brother who was also in a mess. Living...

My name is Kent Anderson.  I am the youngest of 3 boys from a loving stay at home mother and a hard working father.  Wanting to fit in to what the world called popular was my downfall.  I wanted to do all the things other kids did who had material things.  I was spoiled and didn’t even know it because others had more material things than I had but they didn’t have a father who took them fishing and hunting or a mother who spent time working in the yard or catching butterflies or going...

 My name is Jacob Barnes.  I was born in 1997 in Jackson, Tennessee.  When I was young, my parents moved us to Kennett, Missouri because my father was from there.  My parents were young, and my dad couldn’t handle the pressure, so he drank and used drugs and hung out with the wrong people, often leaving me and my mom and sisters to fend for ourselves.  Eventually, my parents split up and my mom ended up moving all of us in with her boyfriend in a nice house.  This didn’t last long...

My name is Bo Sandefur and I am 23 years old. I’m from a small town in the hills of Kentucky called Horse Branch. I grew up in a good family. We always went to church, until I was 11 years old. At that time I fell out of a tree stand and I injured my back and was prescribed pain pills. That’s where my addiction began. In a very short time I learned how to synthesize methamphetamine and how to steal the ingredients for it, and I learned how to make moonshine and grow marijuana. I quit...

My name is Patrick Cook.  I am 40 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri.  I was raised by parents who did well but were alcoholics.  Growing up, I always felt different and had very few friends.  I also had a hard time fitting in anywhere because I was a very sick kid and couldn’t participate in what “normal kids” do which led to me feeling left out and very alone.  Growing up, I always said that I would never smoke, drink or do drugs and I didn’t until I went to college. That�...

My name is Hunter Willis.  I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas but now I live close to Springfield, Missouri.  I’m 27 years old and have fought drug and alcohol abuse since I was 16.  Growing up was perfect.  My family and I trained horses and rodeoed.  We went to church every Sunday and I was active in the youth groups.  My family was very close.  My dad worked and my mom stayed at home with me and my brothers.  She say’s she would ask my brother where I was, and he’d usually say...

Hello there, my name is Jamie Sickal. I’m 47 years old, I was born in Sikeston, MO but lived in Houston, TX for most of my life. My childhood
was good, except for growing up without a dad. I always wanted a father figure in my life. I got married in my early 20s, and filled that void with
my own family, and being the father I never had. After 16 years of marriage, my wife was unfaithful, which led to her having another man’s child,
and our divorce....

My name is Tonya Leigott.  I am 29 years old, from Trumann, Arkansas.  I came from a very dysfunctional home.  When I was younger, my parents were in a mess, along with my Aunt and Uncle, it was just kind of a family thing…When I was about 8 years old; my parents let my grandparents adopt me.  My grandparents tried to give me everything that my parents couldn’t, which in turn made me spoiled and emotionally unbalanced.  My best friend died leaving my 18th birthday party after a night...

My name is Skylar Matheney.  I am 35 years old.  I  am from Piggott, Arkansas.  I am a single parent of a 13 year old son,  his  name  is Devon.  He is the light of my life and beside’s God, the source of my strength.  I started off on drugs at the age of 14, mainly  drinking and then that turned into marijuana. I was introduced to meth at the age of 16  and  started on  my  downward spiral.  The last few years were terrible.  I was terrible in a lot of ways.  I  was...

My name is Stewart Kerr. I am 24 years old from Muncie, Indiana. I grew up in a good home with good parents, two older sisters, and two younger brothers. We grew up going to a church where my parents were very involved, as I got older, they stopped forcing me to go and I started to stray away. Then I got into sports and got busy, and I stopped going to church completely. When I was 15, I began drinking with my friends and a year later I began to smoke weed. I smoked weed for a few years and...

My name is Casey Barker. I’m 45 years old from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I am an only child that grew up in a home where my parents loved me and provided for me. I went to church, I was active in school, sports, fishing and hunting, and I worked with my dad. My dad is a good man, but at times he would speak harshly to me and it affected my self esteem negatively. At the age of 12 my best friend was killed in an accident. I began trying to numb my pain with alcohol, sex, and drugs. I tried...

my name is Felisha Thompson. I am 34 years old and from Lagrange, Georgia. I am the youngest of four kids and
had to grow up quickly. My dad was in prison for drugs, so my mom was a single parent, and my brother helped to
raise us. I started smoking weed at twelve years old and I was using meth by time I was sixteen. I have battled with
addiction most of my life, which led to me going to prison when I was 29 for meth. I was released and two days later
went right back to that...

Hi, my name is Justin Finley and I am 33 years old. I was raised by my grandparents, which is a decision my mother made due to her addiction. I was raised in church and taught right from wrong. Whenever I visited my mother, I would get molested by her boyfriend. This led to anger and depression. I was bullied to the point where I had to change schools. I started to hang out with the wrong crowd, they accepted me with open arms. They introduced me to witchcraft at the age of 13 and by the age...

My name is Jason Freeman.  I was born In Poplar Bluff, Missouri in 1982 and I was raised in Dexter, Missouri.  I have an older sister and an adopted brother and sister. My childhood was what I would consider normal.  I went to a Baptist church and I played all sports but was especially good at baseball.  When I was 13, I stopped going to church and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol.  In no time, I got in trouble for bringing drugs to school.  I got put on probation and...

Hello I am Kimberly Townsend (Kimmy). I am 54 years old and was born in St. Louis, Missouri. I am a proud mom of 2 very special men, Mathew Alan Trudell age 36 years old and his oldest brother(who is now with the Lord) Mack Andrew Trudell Jr.(1985-2004). Alcoholism and addiction have been a big part of my life since birth. My parents were both alcoholics and although I was never physically abused by either of them, my childhood consisted of watching them constantly verbally and physically...

My name is LeeAnn Woods. I am 48 years old from Reyno, AR.  I’ve been blessed with two wonderful sons, Marcus and Chandler; a daughter in law, Emily and two grandsons, Chase and Ryder.  When I think about my life up until now, the scripture John 10:10 comes to mind, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.  My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” I grew up in a Christian home, going to church. I always wanted to do what was right.  My dream when I was...

My name is Robert Jones.  I am 36 years old from Jackson, MS.  My life has been hard from the very start.  I was born with a hole in my heart and 2 ruptured hernias in my abdomen; I am told that during this time, I contracted scarlet fever.  I was a very sick baby.  I survived this only to be abandoned by my father at age 2, and I was physically and sexually assaulted by someone close to me until age 8.  My mother  re-married during this time to a man who would adopt me, but again I...

My name is Trey Hollins.  I’m 24 years old rom Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  I had a good childhood.  I was raised by a single parent, my mom.  My dad came around from time to time, but he had 8 other kids and I always felt like he just didn’t have time for me, his oldest son.  I started working when I was 16 years old.  I complained about it until one day my mom told me that there was a time that she had to pick up trash just to provide for me and my sister.  Hearing that changed my...

My name is Ryan Burhans. I am 40 years old. I was born in Wisconsin. When I was around fifteen my parents got divorced and I was left alone
a lot and I felt rejected. That’s when my drinking started. I moved out when I was sixteen and had my first child. The drinking got worse because
it numbed the pain of rejection that I felt. I have had many jobs and two marriages that ended due to my drinking. All these years of drinking, I
only had one accident. I know it was because...

My name is Krista Bates-Duncan. I am 29 years old and live in Malden, Missouri. As I was growing up I went through many traumatic events that led                         up to my addiction. I lived in fear most of my life and did not have a clue as to what real love felt like. I didn’t understand what the word “love” even                              meant or what love looked like. As a child I was burned by boiling water at the age of three,...

 My name is Katie Pitts. I am 32 years old from Kennett, MO. I had a good childhood never wanting for anything. My mother took me to church every time the doors were open. I was saved at a young age and had relations with Jesus but not a relationship. Growing up, I suffered from depression, anxiety, and rejection issues, In my later teenage years, I discovered alcohol and liked the way it made me feel, In reality, I ended up in bondage and it made the things I was experiencing worse, I used...

Hello!  My name is Marvin Hembree; I am 40 years old and was born and raised in a small town called Clinton, Tennessee.  I am the oldest of 4 boys.  I grew up in an amazing home with two very loving parents who are still together to this day. The 4 of us boys were raised in church our whole lives and came to know God from a very young age.  I always excelled in academics in school, up until my teenage years when I began to experiment with drugs.  I have always been of a very small...

Hello, I’m Misty Davidson. I’m 46 years old and from Moberly, Missouri. I grew up in a Christian home-Baptist. I was saved at the age of 9 but it seemed like at an early age, fear, torment, and anxiety set in and I doubted my salvation and my self-worth. I grew up in a very prideful and strifeful home. My Christian roots
go deep on my dad’s side. A lot of pastors and deacons of the church, but my momma’s side of the family wanted nothing to do with the Lord. A lot of...

My name is Kenna Chenoa Cashion. I am…a child of God. I could tell you about how I was married with kids or how I was teased as a kid, how my family was poor and broken or even how I was abused but all of these things are so small but necessary parts of my life. See I am now a 34-year-old divorced mother of 3 whom after being married and without a husband and home of my own, struggling to become a single parent lost my way, myself, my children and my life. No, I didn’t die physically but...

My name is Dezirae Starcher.  I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH.  I...

My name is Nathan Jones. I was born July 10th, 1988, in Cape Girardeau, MO. I was the youngest of 3 boys. I was raised catholic but didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. At an early age, I started smoking weed and taking pills. I dropped out of school and started partying full time. My addiction got worse and progressed into harder drugs like meth and heroin. This ruled my life for a long time. I was in and out of jails, mental institutions, and hospitals....