From getting support to supporting others into stability and new life. Maddy shares about being the change.
What inspired you to “be the change”?
I felt like my life was predisposed to fail. I was born into the largest motorcycle club in the eighties. My mom was running and gunning. My birth father would spend 35 years of my life in prison before I met him. I went into foster care at nine and went through five failed adoptions. I’m a second generation foster child. My mom was in foster care and my four oldest siblings were in foster care before I was born. I was angry. I didn’t understand why people couldn’t love me, why I couldn’t have a good family. I made it my goal to be the light and change maker for my family, my community, myself, and especially my daughters. Even when times get hard. It’s my driving force to this day.
How’d you get involved with the Tacoma Rescue Mission?
I came through the Mission after leaving an abusive marriage. I was applying to a hundred different jobs and needed help with food and basic resources. When I finally got connected with a job-placement program, I chose to intern with the Street Outreach team at the Mission and was then hired on. It was a way for me to give back what they had given me. I wanted to make sure I kept moving forward and not backwards to the same cycle I had been repeating my whole life. So I was working and continuing to go to school. I hold five degrees now, one of them being a Master’s in Social Work. I recently was hired as a Mental Health Professional in the Mission’s Counseling Department. My girls are seeing my confidence and me trusting in my skills. We’re all
starting to move forward together. I can tell in all of our smiles that things just aren’t as heavy anymore.
What does the Mission mean to you?
The Mission has supported me in ways I will forever be grateful for. The people here never wavered on me when I was a client needing help and never when I was an employee. The Mission continued to foster my growth and support me in every aspect of my journey here so I can do the same for others. This is a special place. It feels very sacred and so different from any place I’ve worked. I couldn’t ask for more. I hope that in my time here I can give back to the Mission and the people here as much as they’ve given to me and my family.
What will the holidays look like for you this year?
I honestly had forgotten about the holidays, the traditions, the celebrating, the decorating. When you’ve lived in survival mode your whole life, there are always things that take priority. Now I believe in building traditions, celebrating, and finding connection to family, friends, and place. My seven-year-old reminds me that all of those things keep the magic alive and leak positivity onto everyone.
This will be my first Christmas that won’t just be overwhelmed with stress. It makes my eyes water. I’m looking forward to enjoying the essence of the holidays. It’s also the first holidays I’ll have my whole family together. My mom lives with me now, I have my two girls, and I just reconnected with my birth dad.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Sometimes we just need a chance. It doesn’t matter where we came from, what we have or don’t have, the way we look, the way we sound. Giving someone a chance to grow and be supported in the ways they never had, that’s what leads to success. That’s what got me to where I am today. All I would ask of anyone is to be willing to give someone a chance.
