Testimonials

April L.

April LeeLife was “normal” for me until the age of 12. My parents got divorced after 19 years of marriage. As a young teenage girl, I felt confused and abandoned. I began experimenting with marijuana and alcohol. I quit high school and was soon pregnant. At 28 I became heavily addicted to prescription pain and anxiety medication. IV drug use was soon to follow. I went on to live a life of abuse, toxic relationships and drug addiction.

Every day was a means to an end. I was lost in shame and guilt, completely broken, spiritually dead. The feelings of worthlessness kept me bound to my addiction. I couldn’t see any other way to live because that way of life was all that I knew. My life on a day-to-day basis revolved around getting high. During the last seven years of my drug abuse, I was an active IV drug user. In and out of different jails, if I wasn’t incarcerated, I was homeless. I was tired and wanted help. I came to the Home of Grace in October of 2022.

I’ve learned that there is a different way to live, a life I never knew existed but so desperately deserved. I found my value, the love of Jesus, and my true identity in Christ. My goals are to get my GED and restore a relationship with my children. I’ve been working at a full time job for a year now and just celebrated 20 months of sobriety.

I’m still learning and growing, striving to walk in God’s purpose for my life. Every day I live with joy and thankfulness. Thank you, Jesus, for setting the captive free. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.

Joy L.

Joy LawMy name is Joy, and I graduated from Home of Grace in 2008 and 2024. In 2008, I was dealing with more of a “Joy” problem. I was acting out and the partying lifestyle was in full swing. I came to Home of Grace not thinking I needed any help. But I was VERY wrong. I learned to really love myself and had a counselor that the good Lord knew would work for me…Ms. Harriett. She loved me so hard and that was exactly what I needed at that point of my life.

As life progressed, I found myself complacent in my sobriety, and I backslid on alcohol. I was able to keep it semi- “under control” and hidden until Dec.2023, when I very suddenly lost my only sibling to a fentanyl overdose. One would think that would give me incentive to reign my drinking in, but it only made it so. much. worse.

My world shattered and so did I.

I spiraled into a very dark, sad, angry, completely dependent on alcohol shell of a woman. I was literally hanging on by a thread.

My family was so worried and insistent that I get help. The Home of Grace was my only option. I knew I needed a total renewing of spirit, mind and body. I will always credit HOG for saving my life and getting Joy back again. The counselor that I had in 2024 was exactly who I needed this time. Shannon made me comfortable, I trusted her immediately, and I knew I could tell her the hard things that I was holding on to for years. She is an incredible counselor and a huge asset to the Home of Grace, as well as ALL the staff.

Home of Grace is the most peaceful, loving and sacred place that I have or will ever be privileged to go to. I have my relationship with God back and have never felt more at peace and truly happy in my life, which I didn’t believe was possible.

But God.

Arrica M.

Arrica McCasterMy name is Arrica. I am from Alabama originally but have moved around the country several times. Alcoholism is generational in my family and with me being the oldest child, I assumed most of the responsibilities where I and my siblings were concerned. I carried a lot of burdens from our childhood, but I excelled in school and even found time for extracurriculars like cheerleading. I got pregnant at the age of 15 and moved to Connecticut where I had 2 more kids. The pressure was building in 12th grade trying to juggle the responsibilities of motherhood and my education, so I spoke to my teachers about dropping out, but they were not having it and they rallied for me to get my GED, which I scored above average and was awarded a high school diploma.

About a year later my grandma got sick and I moved back to Alabama to care for her. I also started school for business administration, but my mom was in active addiction and could not help me with the children any longer, so I dropped out. I found myself pregnant again with no support from the fathers of my babies. I was working a lot and began to drink while trying to cope with the stressors of life. I always moved into supervisor positions anywhere I worked. On the outside I was managing but, on the inside, I was falling apart. All the while my drinking was getting worse, and I had begun to use hard core drugs too. Toxic men, legal troubles, and an addiction that was progressing quickly landed me in the Home of Grace for Women in 2008. I stayed sober for 7 years, but I was still trying to go alone. My youngest son landed in prison, my young daughter got pregnant, and I just couldn’t hold it all together. I look back now, and I see that I was not able to be brutally honest in recovery before and that hindered my recovery process.

I came back to the Home of Grace earlier this year and I made a conscious and intentional effort to be real and transparent about my struggles this time. I was willing to do any and everything I had to do to get it right this time around.

I live at the Graduate Dorms here on the campus and I work and serve the ministry that gave me a second chance at life. I am grateful for the opportunity to help serve the clients and to be a light of hope to the women that are totally hopeless like I once was.

I am totally submitted to the process, and I live my recovery out loud! I am in discipleship and stay very accountable. I’m learning to receive help and support from a wonderful community of believers. I am very close to getting my license which I haven’t had in 15 years, and I just became an official employee of the Home of Grace. I am also a shift supervisor at Goldfingers in Saraland where I have been honest about my recovery as well. Jesus is real and His Power is actively transforming me into the woman God created me to be. I am so full of gratitude for this ministry and all the staff and volunteers that serve so diligently spreading the love of Christ.

Champayne W.

ChampaynePictured are Sandy Doss (Counselor),
Champayne (Client)
Baby Saturn“Grace” Wuescher Born Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

This is a letter from Champayne’s DHS Worker…

Oh wow. I love how God works in his own timing. I am so so happy that Champayne is able to bond with Grace this way!! I had no idea about Hannah House. I have chills thinking about Ms. Littleton looking down on y’all and just feeling so proud of y’all for continuing her passion and this work!! I deserve no thanks for this, YOU GUYS DID THIS! Y’all made it happen, y’all keep making it happen. Y’all are the true GOATs for people like Champayne who need just a little bit of patience and extra support. This means so much to me, to see people not giving up on others (it’s something I see too often, treatment facilities being too overwhelmed or just over their shenanigans to allow people to come back after a relapse). I am so thrilled that we have connected, and I am aware of what you guys do!!!

Kaylynn W.

KaylynnMy name is Kaylynn. I am 30 years old. I’m from Cullman, Alabama. At the age of 13 I got put on anti-depressant medication. I had my first son at the age of 15 and got put on pain medicine. That is when my addiction started.

In 2010 I had my second son. While I was on the pain and nerve medication, I had tried meth for the first time. I went to jail for the first time in 2014 and that’s when I got my first felony. At this point in my life, I was bad off in my addiction and I had lost everything that I had. I got pregnant with my daughter, lost her, and went back to jail. I stayed in Cullman County for about 8 months and the whole time I was in there I was hooked on Kratom. When I got out of jail, I had relapsed. I was pregnant again filled with shame and guilt. I reached out to the Home of Grace for Women, and they welcomed me with open arms.

While I was on the program, I had a doctor’s appointment and I found out I was having twin boys. Not long after that I went into labor and my heart failed. After spending two days in ICU, I finally got to see my healthy 31 weeks old baby boys. The Home of Grace saved our lives. I have met some of the best women of God here. I am now a Graduate living at the Home of Grace with my twin boys. God has truly blessed me. I’m so grateful for the Home of Grace and I am very excited about what God has next for me.

Tasha

TashaMy name is Tasha. I am a 35 year old single mother of a beautiful 5 year old little girl named Kenley. I had struggled with drug addiction since I was a teenager and had experienced much pain and misery throughout the years because of it. But when I arrived at the Home of Grace on October 24, 2014, I was broken in a way I had never been broken before. Not only had my addiction once again spiraled out of control, but I had lost custody of my daughter. I’m not really sure which was worse- finding out that I had lost her or coming to the realization that I had become the type of mother that would have to have her child taken away. But it took losing her for me to finally turn my life around.

Through the Home of Grace program, I have found a new freedom in Jesus Christ and the relationship between my daughter and me has been restored. Not only did God give her mother back to her, He gave me back whole…ten times better than she’d ever known before. I am so grateful for God’s grace & mercy.

Kimberly K.

Kim and Mrs. LittletonI need to start out by saying I give God all the glory for where I am in my life. I started using drugs and alcohol as a young child, just for fun. Little did I know I’d be where I am today. I’m now 39 years old, married for 17 years, he is also a recovering addict, and now I’m totally clean and sober for almost 7 months. In May 2005, I attempted sobriety on my own. I went without crack-cocaine and marijuana for 187 days, but continued to drink excessively. Needless to say, I relapsed in November 2005, wound up going to jail for 12 days, then I was accepted to The Home of Grace for Women. I arrived on December 12, 2005, and left March 2, 2006, as a new creature in Jesus Christ.

By His grace and mercy I am still totally clean and sober. My husband is as well and we have moved into a lovely two bedroom house. I am a full-time student at Bishop State community College studying to become a Social Worker. And I work part-time at Big Time Diner in Mobile. I honestly believe if it wasn’t for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, plucking me out of Baldwin County Detention, and sending me to The Home of Grace for Women, I would be dead, or in jail. As a result of my recovery my entire life is wonderful. I have much gratitude for agencies such as the United Way and all the wonderful churches that give their support for helping provide places like The Home of Grace for Women where people like me can find a new live. Today, I don’t worry about anything; I have the tools I need to remain clean and sober. And I have an incredible amount of unconditional love in my life now.

I hope to help other addicts in my situation someday. I belong to a wonderful church, Mt. Hebron, that I visited while at The Home of Grace for Women. The pastor and congregation are very supportive of my entire family. I praise God for Mrs. Littleton and the staff for their dedication to saving lives.

Rachel G.

Rachel GibsonMy name is Rachel and I am 39 years old. After spending 20+ years trapped in opiate/meth addiction, multiple incarcerations, 7yrs of living in the woods due to homelessness, I am proud to say that I am finally FREE! Just a little over a year ago I was either living in a stick fort in the woods or was in jail. I actually arrived to The Home of Grace, in the back of a Mobile County Metro Van, shackled, with absolutely nothing but the dirty clothes on my back and was instantly welcomed with open loving arms.

During my 90 days in the program I learned how to process my childhood trauma, coping skills to work through my issues, healthy boundaries, and how to manage my anger. But the most valuable tools I received was how to begin my personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For the first time ever, the Bible came to life for me, empowered me, the words on those pages made me want to LIVE! I now have a little over a year of sobriety, recently purchased my very first car, live in the Grad Dorms, and have the privilege to work as a Housemother!

I have been blessed beyond measure and continue to see God move in my life every single day!!!

Claire H.

Claire and ElliottMy name is Claire, I’m twenty-five years old and from Fairhope Alabama. After an abrupt and devastating neurological disorder diagnosis, I lost what I had thought would be my forever career with the US Navy, and I had fallen hard and fast into severe alcoholism. After ultimatums from those closest to me, I completed ninety days at The Home of Grace in October 2021.

Things went well for a while and in December of 2022 I became a mother to a beautiful blessing, a baby boy I named Elliot James. I had left a long-term relationship during my pregnancy and being a working, nursing, single mother to a newborn proved to be incredibly overwhelming. When my son was three months old, I had lost focus of my recovery and turned to my old coping skills, and in a matter of days I found myself in full blown relapse. I knew what worked and I knew that was Home of Grace. Not only was I welcomed back with no judgement and open arms, so was my Elliot, and he completed the program right there with me.

My son and I were filled with love, grace, and Jesus, we now live in a beautiful place that is perfect for us. Elliot is now approaching two years old and is the happiest little boy. We are both filled with so much gratitude and I will forever be involved with this life-changing ministry. Not only did I get my sobriety back, but Elliot also has his mother exactly as he needs her, happy and healthy.