When trying to understand what leads someone down the path of addiction, usually the situation of the home life is a key factor. The clients in our addiction recovery programs have unique stories to tell but an all too common thread is the condition of their home life when they were children. Broken homes, addicted parents, single parents, and various forms of abuse seem to be a repeating theme. This is the case for Shelbe as well. As a child, she experienced very tough circumstances that led her to addictive behaviors.
“Growing up in our home was a tough experience,” Says Shelbe. “There were incidents of sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, and other substance abuse. At one point, my parents divorced which made things even harder. Dad wasn’t around much and mom worked all the time so my older sister and my friend, Katina, practically raised me for 5 years. I was always a good student despite those issues so most people didn’t know what was going on.”
As an adult, Shelbe found herself falling into the grip of addiction as a mechanism to cope with previous experiences.
“The drug use became more frequent and heavier as time went on,” Shelbe explains. “At one point, I was getting high with my husband’s nephew when he ingested a lethal dose of carfentanil and died in my arms. Despite experiencing that, I still continued to use drugs.”
Shelbe’s destructive behavior led her to the point of giving up. One day she decided to take an extremely large number of pills with the plan of ending her life. Fortunately, she was hospitalized in time to save her life. She spent months in the hospital recovering from the physical and psychological consequences of her actions.
“I was actually frustrated as to why I could not die,” Shelbe explains. “That is what I wanted to do but for some reason I could not.”
Her friend, Katina, reached out to her and begged her to join her at Union Mission’s Addiction Recovery Program (we featured Katina last month in our newsletter). Shelbe wasn’t ready even after all she had experienced.
“I just didn’t want help. I didn’t want to get sober. Then one time I was arrested for being high and making a scene in public. When my mom picked me up from the police, I told her I was ready to find some help. That is when I came to Union Mission.”
“The team at Union Mission really came along side of me and carried me through the rough times starting out. Lindsay introduced me to the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. I found such peace in knowing that I was created for a purpose and that purpose did not include me dying from a drug
overdose. For the first time in years, the fog of addiction was starting to lift and I could actually visualize a life for me that didn’t include destructive behaviors.”
Shelbe has excelled in the program and is due to graduate this month. During the vocational advancement phase of the program, she had mentioned that she wanted to be a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). The Vocational Team sprang into action and proceeded to get her the training and a position of employment at Stonerise Healthcare. Last month, Shelbe graduated from CNA school with a 97% and achieved a 100% score on her clinicals! She enjoyed an outdoor graduation ceremony on the lawn at Stonerise with friends and coworkers.
“I knew deep down I could do it. I always did well in school but the drugs created such a fog in my life that I couldn’t function properly. Now that
I am sober, I can see that helping others is my gift. I love to serve the elderly and look forward to showing them the love of Jesus just as I was shown at Union Mission.”
Shelbe’s plan going forward is to work as a CNA for a while and get established with a home and a car. Sometime in the future she hopes to pursue additional training and become a registered nurse.
Your support of Union Mission is the very reason we can write stories of hope like this one. Thank you for your contribution and please consider continuing your support. The need is as great as ever. We are seeing one of the side effects of the quarantine is an increased use of drugs in West Virginians. We want to be able to accommodate all people who call us asking for help.
