We asked Angela to share her story about the difficulties she faced as a returning citizen and the need she had for a place to stay and the support a shelter can provide.

My name is Angela. I am in recovery. I am a mother of 3. I have two daughters.  When 16 years old, I lost my first-born, a son. to a medical condition while he was infant. When I was 13 years old, I started using with my older sisters. I gave birth to my oldest daughter shortly after graduating high school. When my infant passed away, I dealt with a lot of bullying and ended up in Juvenile Detention for fighting. On the day I got out of juvenile detention for a 28 day sentence my brother was killed. Soon after my cousin was killed in an alcohol related car accident.  One can start to see that by 18 years old there was already a lot of inner turmoil in my life.

I have been convicted for minor misdemeanors, felony (receiving stolen property) and forgery. My first time being incarcerated as an adult was in January, 2013. I was indicted in December, 2012, for felony charges and had pending court for a misdemeanor theft charge. I was 24 years old, addicted to crack cocaine and opiates. I did not receive re-entry services or aftercare from my incarcerations.

When I went to court, I begged for help with my addiction. I knew I was powerless on my own. Instead, I served 30 days and was out. The court could not help.  The one option I was recommended was to attend outpatient services.  After 90 days, without accompaniment, I relapsed, and return to jail for failing drug testing.  Another 45 days.