As she watched her job slip away and the bills mount, Sherree turned to alcohol to escape. “What could a weekly night out with the girls hurt?” she thought.

But a costly and humbling DUI caught Sherree’s attention and she turned to Lydia House for help.

Sherree’s world seemed to be collapsing around her. Her son was recuperating from pneumonia, but the days he’d spent in the hospital had taken their toll, and Sherree’s job was a thing of the past. The bills were mounting, her older son was belligerent and unruly. And the good times with girlfriends weren’t so good after all.

A night out drinking landed Sherree with a $2,000 fine when she was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence. With no money, no job and five hungry boys to feed, Sherree turned to Lydia House for help, July 13, 2005.

“I couldn’t have paid the fine if we were on the streets. I would be in jail and my children in foster care,” she says tearfully. "It makes me scared just to think about it. I don’t ever want to do anything illegal again. I just want to go forward and learn to do things differently.”

Open Door Mission’s Lydia House has operated at capacity since Sherree’s family arrived, but this determined mother has been content to stay with her family in our emergency shelter. “The food and shelter are a relief — especially with the snow! We’re lucky to have a room and all the basics here,” she says. “If we were on our own, I’d worry about running out of food stamps, paying for rent and heat when it’s freezing outside … I think about these things every day.”

Sherree is grateful for the opportunity to face her problems with help from ODM’s Lydia House counselors rather than running to alcohol. “Now I talk to people and read my Bible. On my own I wouldn’t have had the discipline to read it. Here I learn, then turn around and try to help others. My old friends are calling asking me to pray for them. That’s an honor.”

It’s tough to keep her boys busy at the shelter and Sherree often yearns for quiet time. “We don’t have a lot of freedom and there’s no television,” she notes, admitting she’s a bit of a television junkie. “But it’s worth it. We need the discipline and structure. I want a good life for my children. Here, I’m getting close to God and learning to be self-sufficient.”

Please pray for Sherree and her children. As a single mother, she faces many obstacles in the years ahead. With your help and God’s guidance — and with the godly counsel of Open Door Mission’s Lydia House staff — her family is finding healing and hope!

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