"My life hasn't always been such a positive experience. After being raised by my grandmother into my early teens, I bounced around from home to home living with friends and relatives into my twenties - often struggling to understand why my mother returned for my siblings but not me. As an adult, I found permanent housing and raised a family of my own; however, once my children were grown and moved away, I retreated back into a life of instability and alcohol and drug abuse. After spending six months at a rehabilitation center in Huntington and a few months at a local transitional housing and addictions recovery center, I was accepted into the YWCA's transitional housing program - the YWCA Alicia McCormick Homes. During this time, I became very ill and began looking for permanent, affordable housing that could meet my health needs. Then I was referred to the YWCA Shankin Center, where I now have my own handicap-accessible apartment and supportive services in a close-knit community of residents. Every day, I thank God for my home, my flowers, my porch, the laundry facility, and the fact that I'm clean, sober, have something to call my own and am doing what I love to do.
Today, I volunteer as the Youth Coordinator at the First Baptist Church of Charleston, where I serve as the leader for the church's Youth Ministry Team and plan weekly church activities, Sunday school lessons, field trips, movie nights, service projects and fundraisers for the church's preschool to high school aged youth. I also work with the church's seniors each week and preside over the church'a Hospitality Ministry. My goal is to be a role model and to provide free, constructive activities for children of all ages. Through recent fundraisers, we were able to take 100 youth on a trip to Six Flags and not a single child had to pay. We also reach out to the community by inviting homeless children from the YWCA Sojourner's Shelter to attend our movie nights and donating backpacks filled with school supplies to children in need, including the children residing in the YWCA Alicia McCormick Homes. Until my recent surgery, I would sometimes spend 12-15 hours a day at the church. Now I am able to volunteer at the church three days a week and complete the rest of my planning at home. I am so thankful that despite my past history, my pastor had an open mind to believe and encourage me to do God's work."