Imagine having to fend for yourself out on the streets at 13 years old. Having nowhere to turn. Being seen as prey.
Each day desperate to find food and some way to keep yourself clean. Every night frantically searching for a safe place to go. Scared, vulnerable and alone.
That was Christina’s reality. After being abused in foster care, she ran away and ended up experiencing homelessness.
For years, she was merely surviving. Just trying to avoid being attacked, raped or worse.
Even when she could find somewhere to stay, it usually came with a price.
“The hardest thing was finding somewhere to stay without having to demean myself,” Christina explains.
Christina turned to using drugs just to cope and stay alert to the constant dangers.
She struggled to find food and a safe place to stay. She had to endure constant hardships and was even sexaully assaulted at gun point.
After years of pain and trauma, Christina found the Tacoma Rescue Mission and was accepted into our New Life Recovery Program.
At the Mission, she was able to overcome her addiction and begin rebuilding her life.
Christina is now a proud graduate of our recovery program, has a relationship with Jesus and serves as a Sunday school teacher!
She’s grateful to God and friends like you for making her new life possible.
“I’m a Sunday school teacher now,” Christina proudly shares. “I never in my life could have pictured myself being that.”
But she knows there are many more women like her still struggling to survive on the streets.
“Women are going against their morals just to survive. Women are OD-ing on a daily basis because they have nowhere to go,” Christina shares. “These women need protection. They need a place to feel safe so that they can find themselves again. They don’t even know who they are anymore.”
Christina understands that deep suffering. And knows she could have avoided it if only there had been a safe place to go
“A shelter would have saved me from getting beat up so many times. I wouldn’t have been hungry. I wouldn’t have been roaming around just to stay warm and safe,” she emotionally shares.
Now, thanks to generous friends like you, vulnerable women have a refuge to escape the streets and rebuild their lives.
Christina knows the difference it will make for women experiencing homelessness because she lived it.
“I know that this shelter will save lives. I really do know that,” she shares.
Your continued support will help women receive essential care and vital resources that empower them to step into a better future.
Help women go from merely surviving to thriving!
