Don't Stop Trying

Addiction, Motherhood, and a Tired Soul

For about five years, Chavone went in and out of rehab, calling herself a “chronic relapser.” She tried different places and stayed sober for stretches, but she knew deep down she didn’t have the stability she needed. At the same time, she was a single mother to a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Her addiction cost her jobs and, even worse, trust. “My daughter didn’t feel safe with me because I wasn’t very stable,” she says, and that “was heartbreaking.” She talks about how alone she felt. “I wasn’t happy. I was very, very alone, and that’s why I think community is very helpful.” She believes you don’t always have to hit rock bottom to change. Sometimes, it’s when “your soul is tired” and you just want to be happy and feel like yourself again.

Finding Faith and Community at GRM

Chavone explains, “I do very much believe in God, and I think that He does everything that He’s supposed to do, and it happens in time.” At first, she was hesitant and expected something much worse, but when she arrived, everything felt different. “I wish I would have done it sooner,” she says. She found GRM to be clean, organized, and safe. There’s not a lot of negative downtime. There are classes, ways to volunteer, and constant chances to grow. She calls it “like a little village.” What means the most to her is the staff. “They care. I don’t think I’ve ever asked an employee something and gotten, ‘Go figure it out yourself.’ A lot of them have been through the same thing.”

Healing, Recovery, and Hope for the Future

At Gospel Rescue Mission, Chavone is focusing on “stability and growing,” learning to slow down so that change really sticks. She recently got a job, and that win has given her confidence she hasn’t felt in a long time. She’s learning that “recovery is selfish” in the best way—not about hurting others, but about finally doing it for herself. “If I’m not okay, then you’re not okay to help anybody else.” That shift has started to heal things with her kids. Her son is fully supportive, and her daughter is slowly learning to trust again as Chavone shows up “sober and active,” calling and texting every day. To other parents in addiction, she says, “Don’t stop trying,” even if your kids don’t respond right away. And to anyone struggling the way she has, her encouragement is simple: ask for help, stay present, lean on God and community, and remember that “every day is a new day.”