{"id":1816554,"date":"2023-01-19T18:49:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T23:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1816554"},"modified":"2023-01-19T18:50:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T23:50:43","slug":"theyre-going-to-take-my-kid-how-i-went-from-homeless-convict-to-successful-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theyre-going-to-take-my-kid-how-i-went-from-homeless-convict-to-successful-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019re Going To Take My Kid\u2019: How I Went From Homeless Convict To Successful Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftheyre-going-to-take-my-kid-how-i-went-from-homeless-convict-to-successful-mother%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1816554&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>In two years, a lot can happen. It would be a great surprise to me.<\/p>\n<p>Just two years ago, I sat in a treatment facility waiting for a psychiatric drug prescription, careless as the passing\u202fminutes slowly wasted away. I had nothing left to live for.\u202f Finally, the doctor returned and I looked up in disbelief at her shocking revelation. \u201cWe\u2019re sending you home on\u202fprenatals!\u201d She announced.<\/p>\n<p>It was shocking.\u202f I\u2019d just gotten out of jail, and it couldn\u2019t be possible that a brief rendezvous with my former drug dealer had resulted in a new baby.<\/p>\n<p>Panic turned into shock. They\u2019re going to take my kid.\u202fI\u2019d already permanently lost custody of four children. I would be devastated if another child was taken from me.<\/p>\n<p>As I sat there crying, abortion seemingly my only option, I had no idea that a home called Bethlehem House would soon save\u202fmy life.<\/p>\n<p>Bethlehem House was founded in 2005 to shelter and heal pregnant women struggling with addictions, homelessness, poverty, and lack of family support \u2013 among other challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, I was not the ideal candidate. My childhood was filled with abuse and trauma. At 14 years old, my mother abused me sexually.\u202f By the time I was\u202f16, I was already living completely on my own, working full-time, and completing school. I graduated as valedictorian from my high school class despite all odds. I was then able to enter the workforce and get married.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My marriage rapidly fell apart when my husband became abusive. He also revealed a severe drug addiction to me.\u202f My addiction eventually led to me losing my house, my job and my four children five years later.<\/p>\n<p>My most difficult loss was the one that I suffered from, losing my children.<\/p>\n<p>I spent months fighting to sober up, achieve housing stability, and regain custody of them \u2013 only for CPS to swoop in again and permanently tear my babies away even though at the time I was finally doing everything right.\u202f I felt that there was nothing I could do.<\/p>\n<p>In despair, I spent 17 months ruining what little of my life. I became a criminal and homeless person with two warrants from two states. I ran away as I stole cars, sold drugs and lived in poverty.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until I was robbed at gunpoint that I finally abandoned this lifestyle. With nothing left\u202fto lose, I turned myself in to the nearest jail where I served\u202f10 months. I was released under the condition that I would seek treatment.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what brought me to the treatment facility, where I sat crying,\u202f terrified of losing yet another child.\u202f Why should I carry a child to term,\u202fI wondered,\u202f if the state is just going to take him or her from me in the end?<\/p>\n<p>Yet despite my shock and fear, I wondered\u202fif \u202fit could be possible that\u202fthis unexpected pregnancy was instead a second chance at life.\u202f I knew I wanted to keep\u202fthis baby\u202f \u2014 but how?<\/p>\n<p>After\u202flearning\u202fabout Bethlehem House, I visited. I was met with a familiar face in the home\u2019s Family Life Director who had run my support\u202fgroup in jail. I was greeted with warmth and compassion by the staff. They even wept with me as I shared my past. From that moment, I knew I was at the right place.<\/p>\n<p>I stayed at Bethlehem House\u202ffor the next seven months, during which time they offered me\u202fprofessional\u202fcounseling to heal my trauma and mental instabilities, as well as\u202fa\u202fwide range of practical classes to help me\u202fregain my confidence and re-establish myself: from parenting and sexual integrity to financial literacy and more. I grew extremely close with the other women living in the home at the time, and I flourished in the stable family structure I\u2019d been lacking my whole life.<\/p>\n<p>The\u202fstrong\u202f women at Bethlehem House encouraged me to set goals that would help me and my son Brandon in the long run. My determination to not only keep Brandon, but also to create a stable and healthy life for him motivated me to achieve those goals, and within two years\u202f of the day\u202f that\u202f I first showed up homeless on \u202fthe doorstep of Bethlehem House I had \u2014 every single one.\u202f<\/p>\n<p>I obtained housing, got my college degree, paid off my $10k debt, bought a car and received my license back. I\u202fgot a job at Jiffy Lube,\u202f and\u202fwithin a year I was promoted to store manager. I am currently applying for a job as a district manger at the company. I am also working towards my next goal of home ownership.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time ever, I am\u202fcompletely free of government assistance. I\u2019m also four years clean.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back on my life, I&#8217;m amazed at how miraculously I transformed from a hopeless, broken woman to a successful, sober mom.\u202f<\/p>\n<p>All of this is thanks to the abundance of resources, support, and love Bethlehem House \u202fshowered\u202fon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lot can change in two years. I would know. Just two years ago, I sat in a treatment facility waiting for a psychiatric drug prescription, careless as the passing\u202fminutes slowly wasted away. I had nothing to live for.\u202f The doctor finally returned, and I numbly looked up, unprepared for her explosive revelation: \u201cWe\u2019re sending &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1681,"featured_media":1816557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[15708,6202,4586,8511,3874,9313,7011,6195],"class_list":["post-1816554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-convict","tag-daily","tag-homeless","tag-kid","tag-mother","tag-successful","tag-theyre","tag-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1816554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1816557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1816554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1816554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1816554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}