Taylor survived a tumultuous childhood, but her scars ran deep. She turned to alcohol to cope with her sorrow . . . and it cost her everything.
“My parents were very big drug dealers, in and out of jail for anything you can name—fraud, theft. At eight years old, I went into foster care . . . I was in eight different homes in just 12 months.
“My aunt adopted me when I was 15,” Taylor says, remembering the relief and hope she felt to finally have a home with family. But her joy was short-lived. “She decided to choose her new husband over me. So, a week after my 17th birthday, I left, and I’ve been on my own ever since.
“I was supposed to graduate from high school, but my dad passed away. I went through a deep depression and became addicted to things I shouldn’t be addicted to.”
The next few years were a blur. She says, “I was drinking very heavily from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed. I would wake up with a bottle in my hand.”
Taylor first turned to LifePath for a $2.64 meal provided by a friend like you.
“I went to the shelter for lunch and dinner, and then my best friend, who was here previously with her three girls, recommended the life-changing programs offered here . . . and oh, my gosh, I’m so glad she did.
“I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Taylor says, shaking her head at the memory of the hopelessness that consumed her. “If not for LifePath, I would be on the street, which is very terrifying. I met people who live in tents, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’”
Still, coming through the Mission doors was tough and scary for Taylor. “I was very nervous because this is totally out of my comfort zone, but I had nowhere to go,” she says. “The staff are great and welcoming and helped me feel comfortable. Now I know there’s a lot of sunshine here at LifePath.”
With addiction behind her and a firm foundation under her feet, Taylor is filled with hope and possibilities for the future.
“I got my high school diploma and just got my Medical Billing and Coding Certificate. This past fall, I started college for social work,” she says with a broad smile.
At the top of Taylor’s list of future plans is helping young people who are without a caring family and are foundering in foster care. “I want to work with foster kids. I want to do social work because I was that kid. I was in their shoes, and I feel like foster kids need someone like me on their side.”
Thankful for the help and hope she has found, Taylor says, “LifePath has helped me a lot. It’s a Christian environment and I go to Bible studies, so I got my head on straight—my sobriety, my body, and my mind feel better. I really can’t thank LifePath enough—and the donors. Without LifePath’s donors, I wouldn’t be here, so I want to thank you because you’re really helping me.”
On behalf of saved and changed lives like Taylor’s, thank you for standing with LifePath now to provide NEW LIFE this spring and all year long!
