“This is certainly a time of reflection for women on where they were last year,” Bethanie Burns, program director at Grace and Mercy, explained. “They weren’t in a good place. They are in fear of showing up at their families house. Because residents here can go home for Christmas, they have apprehension about how they might respond, especially if they haven’t seen their kids.”
The staff and residents at both residential homes came together for a Christmas celebration, which Burns said was possible through the outpouring of love from the community.
“There were a lot of moms struggling this year. If they didn’t have a job, how would they have a Christmas?” Burns smiled. “The community provided gifts and stockings. Some organizations took on a giving or angel tree, some businesses came together on their own just to give. Matt Yergler made it so the ladies had a nice meal for the Christmas dinner. One family even opened up their home to the ladies on Christmas Day.”
For those new into recovery, Burns said that holidays are tough.
“It’s hard. Reconciliation hasn’t happened yet,” Burns explained. “Just not being able to be with family yet because those bridges haven’t been mended.”
For many in recovery, they are forced to distance themselves from previous friends and family that continue to use drugs. This was the case for Cassandra Casto, a recent graduate from the program.
Casto was born and raised into addiction. By 17 years old, she was a regular drug user. She earned her first drug possession charge three years after that. According to an agreement Casto made with her probation, she was required to complete a recovery program.
“Sitting in jail, I received an acceptance letter to (a recovery house) in Huntington that I didn’t even apply for. I did well until I got my phone back and started talking to all my old friends. After eight months, I moved programs. I told everyone that the program just didn’t fit me. I had relapsed in my head already. In my second program — it started to show through my actions.”
Casto said that within the same week she graduated from the second program, she also rented her own home, and was released from probation. She sunk back into addiction shortly after.
“I hadn’t worked on anything about myself in either program,” Casto said. “Last November, I was sitting in a hotel room talking to a friend of mine and it’s like everything stopped. I realized how everything around me was falling apart and I needed to do something about it.”
Casto attended a rehab facility over three hours away in order to distance herself from her addiction. It was at church one Sunday morning when her admission to God that she was slipping again led her to find a new home at Grace and Mercy.
“When I got to Grace and Mercy, I focused a lot on myself,” Casto explained. “I was determined to make it this time. I began to be honest with myself and everybody around me. I let God do his work inside of me.”
The verses Jeremiah 29:11-14 have impacted Casto during her recovery as they assure her that all will be restored.
“I found freedom from addiction and the lifestyle that I was living,” Casto said. “December 17th (I had) 10 months sober. I have my own apartment, a great relationship with my boyfriend, and a place I can call home. I no longer let my past determine where I go.”
“We’d love to have someone volunteer to help take that burden off of the mothers,” Burns said. “Especially for the babies in Wells County, there’s not much. Women can’t pay rent and childcare. But it will change a generation — if you can help a mom breathe and get to do what she needs to do so she can take care of her kids.”