“The Time to Change”
Lost and tired, Juanita knew she desperately needed a change to save her life. Juanita now has a life that she didn’t think was possible before she entered City Rescue Mission’s LifeBuilders program in 2007.
Nearly 15 years after entering City Rescue Mission, Juanita leads a life that is in stark contrast to the world that consumed her previously. “Before coming to CRM, I was in a whole different world. I was doing things that I never thought I would do – living a life of drugs and alcohol, prostitution, selling drugs. One day, I just made up my mind that I was tired of this. I had lost so much…my job of 13 years, the relationship with my daughter, the relationship with my mother and my sister. I lost everything.” A few days after this revelation, Juanita’s cousin dropped her off at CRM’s New Life Inn. She knew that there was no going back for her. Juanita knew in her heart that this was her last hope. “I knew that if I went back to the streets, I was dead.”
Juanita was ready. She was ready to build a life that she and her daughter could be proud of. In 2008, Juanita successfully completed the LifeBuilders program. “Being at CRM and completing the program gave me the tools I needed for life. It taught me that when you come up against a situation, sometimes you just need to go in your corner and talk to your Father.”
CRM not only gave her the tools to successfully recover from her addictions and build a sustainable life; it also gave her the time to truly get to know Christ. “I knew about the word of God. My momma made us go to church every day, but I never knew the meaning of who God was until I came to the Mission. With the teaching of my pastor and the guidance at the Mission, I was saved.”
Over the years, Juanita now feels that she has built a life that she, her family, and her Father in heaven can be proud of and she works every day to keep it. In 2009, Juanita married her husband Calvin and now works back in the healthcare field. “Since coming to the Mission, I am found. I know that each day I wake up, it is going to be a battle, but I am strong enough. I am not going to fall into the hands of the enemy after God has built me back up. He gave this opportunity.”
Today, Juanita is still active at CRM and shares her testimony to help others in the LifeBuilders program. She also serves as the president of the program’s Alumni Association that offers peer support to those that have completed the program. “I thank God for the Mission. This will always be first home for me. Anytime they call me, I’m going to come. I haven’t looked back since I left the Mission and I’m not looking back. I’m grateful and thankful for every one that participated in my healing and me being resurrected back to who I am. I must say that He worked a miracle in my life, and He’s not done. I know He’s not done.”
