Polly escaped a shattered childhood to get a degree and become a teacher—only to fall into addiction and hopelessness . . . until God brought her to Nashville Rescue Mission and connected her to friends like you!

Having a child when you’re just a 12-year-old yourself could be one of the hardest ways to start out in life, but somehow Polly knew she’d survive—even more, she wanted to thrive.

Married at 13, she was determined to make her marriage work, finish high school—with honors—go to college, get a teaching job, and have an abundant life . . .

But Polly’s plans fell apart when her marriage ended. And as so many other single moms discover, one small income wasn’t enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

“After getting divorced, I needed to make some extra money,” she recalls. “I found a job detailing cars. Between teaching and raising my daughter, I was tired all the time. Someone I worked with told me he had the answer. I can still remember his words today: ‘I have something that will keep you from being tired.’” Which turned out to be the trap of methamphetamines.

“I was hooked,” Polly admits. And it was all downhill from there: in less than four years, her career, car, and home were all gone, along with custody of her daughter.

And Polly was due to deliver another child. “I had been staying with a friend who moved away. I had nowhere to go. No place to live. I ended up in a cinder block building, with no power and no water. I slept on a box spring with no mattress until the day I went into labor.”

But God was with her even in those dark days. “Despite my living conditions . . . not having any prenatal care, my little girl was born perfect,” Polly says.

“She had to stay an extra week at the hospital for observation, but she had no side effects or permanent damage because of my drug use,” Polly says.

She was a miracle baby. I know that had to be God.

And like so many who finally find hope and healing here, Polly says, “When I came to the Mission, I had no idea who I was. But through the classes, counselors, church services, preachers . . . I finally understood what it meant to be able to choose to live for the Lord.”

By His grace, our proven Life Recovery Program showed Polly who she was in Christ. “I found out when you don’t have Jesus you are just in survival mode—and that’s all I was doing in life until I surrendered to the Lord.”

“He changed the desires of my heart,” Polly explains. “He gave me the desires He wants. I’ve come to discover that life with Jesus is so full and rich—it’s not all butterflies and rainbows, but it’s not the darkness that I was in.”

“I have no desire whatsoever for any type of drugs. I am truly free,” Polly says. “I graduated in May of 2008, and I have not touched anything since then except the abundant life that God has for me.”

I learned how to handle this life at the Mission:
there’s just no other place that could’ve shaped me the way I am now!

Polly is now giving back after all the support she received. She is remarried and has a family again. She is teaching once more, in schools and even girls in jail, and helping to lead a local ministry! That’s true life transformation, thanks to support like yours—now and all summer long!