Alissa sank into alcoholism and addiction, and it cost her everything. But God saw her suffering and led her to the Mission where she found the help and hope she needed to recover and rebuild her life. Alissa and her loved ones are deeply thankful for friends like you who support Nashville Rescue Mission’s Life Recovery Program.

In her early twenties, Alissa experimented with drugs and could have gotten lost in addiction then. But she found love, got married, and had two beautiful children which helped to keep her on the right path. For a while . . .

“I became a functioning alcoholic,” Alissa says. “When I was good, I was very, very good. But when I was bad, I was very bad. Things started to get out of control.

“My family and friends had an intervention, saying, ‘It’s time for you to get help,’” Alissa says. But even after her stay in rehab, her husband saw Alissa hadn’t shaken the hold alcohol had on her. He took the kids and left.

“My husband’s aunt called and told me about the Women’s Life Recovery Program, and she asked if I would be willing to go.”

Alissa asked herself, “‘What are you doing? Your husband is gone. He’s with the kids, and your life is in disarray.’ At that point, I was willing to do anything.”

Support from caring friends and donors gave Alissa a warm welcome here at the Mission, a safe place filled with caring staff and volunteers who understand the challenge of addiction. For the first time in a long time, Alissa felt hope.

Alissa committed to the Life Recovery Program. She gave it all she had, leaving only for a brief time to participate in an important milestone for any family—her daughter’s first day of kindergarten.

Love of family was a powerful motivator, especially when Alissa’s husband said, “Look what you have. You’ve got a life ahead of you. You’ve got me. You’ve got the kids.”

Determined, Alissa returned to the Life Recovery Program and graduated with the tools she needed to stay sober and be the wife and mother she longed to be.

Today, Alissa works with us at Nashville Rescue Mission.

Since graduating from our Christ-centered Life Recovery Program 16 years ago, Alissa has served other women who are suffering like she was.

“I’m a Community Living Advocate, CLA for short,” she says with a big smile. “I get to pay it forward, guiding and directing others because I was in their shoes. I absolutely love it and take it very seriously.”

When she meets someone who is ready to change their life, she does her best to encourage them, using her own journey as proof that it can be done. She tells them, “If just for a moment you could step inside of me, you’d know that this is all going to be okay and you’re going to get through this.”

Thank you for your prayers and ongoing support of Nashville Rescue Mission! Through our Life Recovery Program, lives like Alissa’s are being saved and changed by God!