Lisa’s Story

Lisa’s downward spiral began when she became addicted to pain pills.

“Because of my arthritis, I had a lot of pain, and I started with the pills,” she remembers. “It just escalated from there. To the point where I was not going to work when I should have gone to work and spending more money than I earned.”

When her husband died, she moved into her parent’s home. When they died, Lisa’s sister sold the house.

“I didn’t have a place to go,” Lisa remembers. “One thing led to another, and it was just downfall after downfall after downfall.”

Addicted to opioids, Lisa found shelter with her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend – until both of them went to jail. Eventually evicted, she ended up living in a tent. A fall that badly injured her leg put her in the hospital where a case manager found a place for her here at Grace Place, our transitional house for women.

“Divine intervention poked me, and I just realized I couldn’t do this anymore.”

“I thought it was going to be more institutional and when I got here a couple of the girls who lived here at the time came out and helped me with my stuff. I looked around and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a home, and I need a home.”

“I always believed, but I didn’t have any faith,” she says. “Till I got to the point where He was reaching out to me. I could finally see His hand, and I let Him pull me up.”

Since Lisa arrived nearly a year ago, your support has made it possible for her physical and spiritual life to be transformed. She’s become a member of a church and gone through Celebrate Recovery, a religiously grounded 12-step program, and taken part in our Genesis program. “It helps us look at our feelings and pinpoint why we did what we did and why we don’t have to anymore.”

“When I shared my story at the Mission banquet, I started realizing how much I had overcome, and that God had a place for me. Every day when I pray, one of the things I pray for is for God to make me a blessing to the people I meet.”

“When I first arrived, there was a young girl here. Before we got to be friends, she turned around for whatever reason, looked at me, and said ‘This is a place where miracles happen.’ And yes, Grace Place is a place where miracles happen.”

Thank you so much for making a difference in Lisa’s life through your prayers and support!