“I was on drugs really, really bad when I found out. I was trying to kill myself on drugs, I was homeless, I had a warrant out for my arrest… One night, I had a really bad cough and was real sick so I went to the hospital. They said, ‘Well, you have bronchitis, and you’re seven weeks pregnant.’ I was very shocked and scared, but in that moment, my whole mindset changed. I was like, ‘Oh I’ve got to go back to school, I’ve got to get clean and reconnected with my family, I’ve got to get all of this together before he gets here in 9 months.’ So I was freaking out all in one night at the hospital. But when I got here my life changed, dramatically changed, and every day I woke up it was different. And I was growing.
When I first got here, I just wanted to do the bare minimum and get out of here as quick as I could with my son. But the more I went to class and got involved the more I was interested in change. This is a loving, compassionate, safe place to just be in your recovery and have fun and learn how to be a mom – which was huge for me, because I’m a first-time mom. And now my son is three weeks old, perfectly healthy, and he hasn’t been exposed to drugs since I found out I was pregnant. I’ve got an apartment lined up when I get out of here in two months, I’m in classes to get my GED, I’m hoping to be in college when I leave here. My whole life has changed, and now my son and I have a life to look forward to.”