“If you have just one person who believes in you, you can do a lot.
When I got here, I felt loved by the staff. They kept telling me, ‘You can do this.’ ‘I see the strength in you.’ ‘We’re not giving up on you.’ They saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. And it pushed me to do better. I started working on my coping skills. I took a digital typing class. Once I saw I could pass that class, I went and got my high school diploma. Now, I am a certified peer counselor.
When I took that step of faith and believed the words that the staff was speaking over me, everything started falling in line. Now, I want to be a blessing to people who felt like I did. Like they aren’t good enough, not worthy enough, not educated enough. I want to be able to say to them, ‘I see in you what you don’t.’ ‘I’ll believe in you until you believe in yourself.’
I hope my story shows there’s hope. You can do it. It may take sacrifice, discipline, or disconnecting from people who don’t want you to move forward. I hope my story shows there’s hope. You can do it. It may take sacrifice, discipline, or disconnecting from people who don’t want you to move forward. I just know the people at the Mission did whatever they could to get me where I needed to be.
You knew there was more for me. You saw greatness in me when I didn’t. I’m so grateful for that because it
was the push I needed.”
