My name is Robert Jones.  I am 36 years old from Jackson, MS.  My life has been hard from the very start.  I was born with a hole in my heart and 2 ruptured hernias in my abdomen; I am told that during this time, I contracted scarlet fever.  I was a very sick baby.  I survived this only to be abandoned by my father at age 2, and I was physically and sexually assaulted by someone close to me until age 8.  My mother  re-married during this time to a man who would adopt me, but again I...

My name is Sean Tolbert, and I am from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I have lived there most of my life, which started in 1974. My story is about a long journey of seeking contentment. I
wasn’t unhappy, but I have always felt unsatisfied, and I spent my life trying to fill a void I didn’t understand. I went to college hoping that education and a good job would satisfy me,
this was not the case. I tried traveling or roaming as well, and as it turned out being a...

My name is Courtney Freer. I am 29 years old from Piggott, Arkansas. Growing up, I had a good childhood with 2 siblings, and we were raised by a single mother. My mom tried to make sure that we always had everything we needed. I was raised up going to church, but I just never developed that personal relationship with Jesus that I needed. I started smoking pot in the 6th grade and continued until I was 17 years old. I
used to dream about going to college and making something of my life...

My name is Nichole Haywood.  I was born in Kennett, Missouri and at the age of 3, my mother moved me and my older brother to Ohio.  This move took me away from my father, but I was blessed with a loving stepdad that took me in like his own.  He was the father I needed in my life.  My brother was older than me and was always getting into trouble.  I always felt like my mother loved him more than she did me.  He began raping me when we moved to Ohio.  This went on until I was 8 years old...

My name is Kerry Maurer.  I am 41 years old and was raised in South St. Louis, MO.  My mother was only 16 when she had me and my father abused her.  They partied and they fought all the time.  They separated when I was 5 years old.  When they separated, my mom drugs me from boyfriend to boyfriend and husband to husband.  When it didn’t work out, we would go back to live with relatives.  I changed schools more times than I could count and lacked the stability that I needed growing up....

Hi, My name is Billy Starnes.  I’m 43 years old and was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.  I was raised by alcoholic parents who would get very angry when they drank.  When I was 13 years old, I found marijuana as an escape. This small compromise changed the course of my entire life.  By the time I was 17, I had quit school, got a job and was addicted to meth.  My job took me all over the United State building mini storage buildings.  I was also addicted to the money I was making. The more...

 My name is Katie Pitts. I am 32 years old from Kennett, MO. I had a good childhood never wanting for anything. My mother took me to church every time the doors were open. I was saved at a young age and had relations with Jesus but not a relationship. Growing up, I suffered from depression, anxiety, and rejection issues, In my later teenage years, I discovered alcohol and liked the way it made me feel, In reality, I ended up in bondage and it made the things I was experiencing worse, I used...

My name is Hunter Willis.  I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas but now I live close to Springfield, Missouri.  I’m 27 years old and have fought drug and alcohol abuse since I was 16.  Growing up was perfect.  My family and I trained horses and rodeoed.  We went to church every Sunday and I was active in the youth groups.  My family was very close.  My dad worked and my mom stayed at home with me and my brothers.  She say’s she would ask my brother where I was, and he’d usually say...

My name is Paige Weiss. I am 24 years old from Farmington, MO. Growing up, I had rejection and abandonment issues, this led to depression
and anxiety. After I graduated high school, I started experimenting with drugs, but they soon overtook my life. I got into a serious car accident
and miraculously walked away with only a scratch. After the accident, I realized how deadly the situation could have been. This scared me into
sobriety for 6 months, but it’s not really about...

My name is Marissa Lesley.  I am 43 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I have been on and off drugs since I was 12 years old.  I never really      felt like I fit in anywhere and I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem issues.  I came from a good family.  My parents divorced when I was      young, but they were both good and loving parents.  Neither one of my parents ever had addiction problems. I started hanging out with the      wrong crowd in school and that was my...

Hi, my name is Chrisy Ginn. I am 50 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri. I was very depressed at a young age.  I remember crying every day at school and feeling very despondent.  This feeling has lasted most of my life – BUT GOD!  I began to self-medicate in high school and this continued until the time I came to Freedom House.  When I was 42 years old, I added methamphetamines to the “medication” and my life spiraled out of control.  I found myself homeless and broke and felt...

My name is Cameron Collins. I’m 28 years old and I was born and raised in Mount Ida, AR. I have a brother that’s 2 years older than me and                            parents that got divorced when I was 4. I really don’t have many memories of them together. Both of my parents got remarried and my brother and I                          stayed with our aunt and uncle as well as my grandmother. I was raised in church until I was about 14. At the age of 14 I...

My name is Tori Carter, and I am 32 years old. I was raised between Poplar Bluff, MO and Jonesboro, AR. I grew up in a Christian home, so the love of God was not new to me. I had a good relationship with Jesus, until several years ago when my faith was tested. I lost my brother to suicide. I thought this was the hardest thing that I would ever experience, until I lost my 3-month-old baby boy to SIDS, only two weeks after I buried my brother. I was already using alcohol to
numb the pain and...

My name is Steven Lee Martin.  I was born in 1981 in St. Louis, MO. I spent my childhood around severe alcoholics.  My parents would argue a lot.  When they were at work, my brother and I spent time with my grandparents.  They would drink and argue a lot.  I can remember all the way back to 5 years old.  My grandpa was a security guard.  He would come home from work every day with a case of beer and a bottle of alcohol and get drunk and then get mean.  I guess I just assumed that was...

Hello there, my name is Jamie Sickal. I’m 47 years old, I was born in Sikeston, MO but lived in Houston, TX for most of my life. My childhood
was good, except for growing up without a dad. I always wanted a father figure in my life. I got married in my early 20s, and filled that void with
my own family, and being the father I never had. After 16 years of marriage, my wife was unfaithful, which led to her having another man’s child,
and our divorce....

      My name is Whitney Burnette.  I am 29 years old from Wynne,...

My name is Claude Essary, and I was born on July 27, 1977, in Bartow, FL. My mother was mentally ill, and my father was an alcoholic and a gambler, this made for a rough childhood. As I grew up, I had a lot of hate and anger from my upbringing that affected every part of my life. I just wanted to love people so much, because I didn’t want anyone to feel the way I felt inside. In November of last year, I was in jail for the fifteenth time; I was at a point in my life that I had never seen...

My name is Stewart Kerr. I am 24 years old from Muncie, Indiana. I grew up in a good home with good parents, two older sisters, and two younger brothers. We grew up going to a church where my parents were very involved, as I got older, they stopped forcing me to go and I started to stray away. Then I got into sports and got busy, and I stopped going to church completely. When I was 15, I began drinking with my friends and a year later I began to smoke weed. I smoked weed for a few years and...

My name is Mike Shepherd, I am 60 years old from St. Louis, MO. In grade school I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life and that was to play soccer.  I loved it and was good at it.  When I got into high school, I got hurt playing football and my soccer dream was gone.  This threw me for a loop, and I had trouble dealing with it emotionally.  I was resentful toward the other players, not a member of the party crowd, shy with the girls and I felt like I did not fit in anywhere....

My name is Trace Cohn.  I’m 30 years old and grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  I grew up in church and had a great family and wanted for nothing.  I got introduced to drugs and alcohol and my childhood innocence quickly turned to despair.  Everything that could go wrong did.  I ended up getting kicked out of school in the 8th grade and had to go to jail because of marijuana. You would have thought that jail would have scared me enough to straighten up, but it didn’t.  When I got out,...