I was a single parent mom who had left a domestic violence marriage. After struggling for over 25 years with alcoholism, I lost my job. My life hit rock bottom. In that moment, when everything had fallen apart, I was face down on the floor thinking I would die. My life had blown up.
It was then that I surrendered my life to Christ and confessed to the Lord that I had made a terrible mess of my life. I asked Him to do something of value, His will, with my life. Finally, I was able to get sober and connect with my church. I sought counseling and joined a support group with my sons. With the help of the program, Overcomers, I learned about addiction and family trauma. Through that, I was able to start repairing my relationship with God and began to heal.
Back when everything first happened, I was in the process of getting my master’s degree. I left school then, but fortunately, I was able to enroll again. Unemployed for seven months, God helped me to use that time for healing. I had a wonderful mentor at church who helped and coached me. When I returned to school, it was a Christian school, and my advisor encouraged me to really look at what God was doing in my life. So I decided to write my thesis on a ministry I felt led to start called Hope for Her.
Hope for Her came about from my personal life experience and the desire to help other women. The idea was to create a place for women who were struggling to receive help without judgment or condemnation. I had 11 other women in my research team, all from challenging life circumstances. Together, with all our combined experience, we put the model together for Hope for Her.
The mission is to provide a safe place, where women experiencing crisis or trauma, can find strength, skills, and support to rebuild their best life. We started collaborating with other women in May of 2003. By September 2003, we had already worked with over 100 women. We decided to incorporate and file for tax exemption.
Now, 22 years later, we have served over 75,000 women and children.
Our vision is to achieve a future where every woman is living God’s ultimate purpose for her life. If we were to do that, we would be able to close our doors, and our mission would done. When you walk into the front building, the first thing you will see is Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
We hope ladies will identify what they need today and where they want to go long term. We help them put that plan together with a strong whole-person approach. This is our model and the foundation of our spiritual health. Having a right relationship with God, self, and others. Through that process, the Holy Spirit does the work and the miracles in their daily lives.
The Lord helps to work through the process and opens doors for women to achieve their dreams. All the glory goes to God. He has led our path all these years and we are in awe that He trusts us to care for the ladies He brings to us.
No Comments