Kim would do anything to earn her mother’s love, but it always left her empty.
“I had a really unhealthy, codependent relationship with her,” she says. “My mom used drugs to numb her own pain and taught me to do the same.”
So when, at just 19, Kim lost her mom, she felt like she’d lost part of herself. “I didn’t know who I was anymore… I was so confused.”
To fill this void in her life, Kim turned to substances more and more and sought out the approval of men. She started dating a man she thought loved her… Together, they even had a son, but it wasn’t long before he turned abusive.
“Every time I would get a job or try to go to school, he would give me a black eye… so I just stayed in the house.”
A prisoner in her own home, Kim longed to escape. When the abuse started happening in front of her young son, depressed and fearing for their lives, she made the brave choice to leave.
Coming to the Fresno Mission was an answer to Kim’s prayers.
Kim and her son found a safe haven staying in our emergency shelter for families. And after two months, Kim felt God leading her to join our long-term program. “I had so many walls up, I couldn’t even trust myself… but I surrendered control and started trusting God.”
Through daily chapel services, Christ-centered counseling and the support of other women in our program, Kim experienced God’s love filling the void in her heart.
Today, Kim enjoys extending that love to others, working part-time in our Community Care Program to welcome other guests in crisis as she once was.
This year, Kim will be celebrating Christmas as a new creation, filled with the great joy of God’s love. “It’s truly a blessing to be at a place like the Mission where they love and care about you.”
Kim’s story appeared in the Holiday 2020 edition of Lighthouse News.