When Iris and her baby son came to Open Door Mission in the middle of the chilly spring night, they were welcomed with open arms. “I had walked almost three miles. It was a huge burden off my shoulders to know we were safe.”

This wasn’t the first night Iris had spent in a shelter. Years of drug and alcohol abuse left her without the motivation to hold on to jobs, housing or even custody of her three daughters.

“I started using marijuana and alcohol just out of high school,” she recalls. Abandoned by a drug-addicted mother, Iris had been adopted into a loving Christian home. “But I was angry,” she admits. “I felt the rules were too strict and I wanted to do what I wanted to do.”

Iris’s addiction got progressively worse. “I never saw myself as having a problem. I figured I wasn’t doing anything hard like the crack cocaine my bio parents had. The worst part was, it kept me from doing what I had the potential to do.”

At Open Door Mission, Iris’ life began to change. She says, “I just wanted a place to stay, but the counselor said, ‘Maybe there are other issues you need to look into.’”

Although she wasn’t particularly interested in joining the Mission’s New Life Recovery programs , Iris didn’t want to return to the street. “I didn’t want to go shelter-hopping; I joined the programs so we could stay in a stable environment."

Soon Iris realized she was getting more than just shelter from the cold. “They gave me other ways of thinking,” she says. “I found a real relationship with God. He delivered me from my addictions and for the first time, I saw myself succeeding at something. Now I’m capable, dependable and able to set goals for myself!”

Now a Mission staff member, Iris says, “If you’re sincere about your desire to serve God, every day you’ll see some type
of miracle.”

Iris looks forward to having her family back together. “I’m not passing on my drug dependence and irresponsibility to my kids,” she says with confidence. “I want them to learn to depend on God first and then on themselves. They’re bursting with potential. I’m so glad to be their mom.”

Iris loves to share her love for Christ. “He picked me up, dusted me off and gave me a clean slate!”

Because of your faithfulness and generosity, Iris and her children’s lives have been changed for eternity!

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