Nearly 14 months clean, and I feel great
I lost so much after allowing drug addiction to take over my life. I endured physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, and emotional abuse, and somewhere along the way, I convinced myself that drugs were the only way to numb the pain. I lost my job, my home, my children, and eventually even my faith and hope. I became suicidal and truly felt like I had nothing left to live for. I attended one of Kiki’s events in South Minneapolis near the George Floyd memorial, and honestly, at the time I was living in shelters, on the streets, and sometimes going to hospitals so that I could have a bed and something to eat for the day. If I’m being truthful, I only came for the free food, but when I heard Kiki speak, something about her words touched my heart. I then overheard her praying for someone, and I asked if she could pray for me, too. She asked what my prayer requests were, and I told her to just pray because I was carrying so much shame and embarrassment that I couldn’t even put my pain into words. When she finished praying, she asked me, ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’ We talked for almost two hours that day, and she promised me she would help me. For the past two years, she has never broken that promise. Today, I’m working, attending mental health therapy, I still attend the AA meetings she helped me find, and I also have a sponsor who still helps guide me today. I’ve been living in my own apartment for the past 10 months now, I’m approaching my 1st anniversary at Aldis, and I’ve also been working part-time for Applebee’s for 9 months, and I’ve been clean for 13 months and 19 days. Sometimes I smile just thinking about how far I’ve come. I’m still healing and still growing, but every day I’m becoming a better version of myself. None of this would have been possible without Kiki believing in me during the times I kept relapsing and struggling. She never gave up on finding treatment programs and resources when I fell short, to help me get where I am today.
Kiki, thank you for loving me and helping me. You are truly an angel, and I will never forget what you’ve done for me.
— Izabella W.
