Blog, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Tonya, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Tonya Stories of Reshaped Lives My dad was an alcoholic, and I grew up in a household with a stepdad that was an alcoholic. I began drinking at 12 because I thought it was normal. All through my teenage and young adulthood years, I believed every lie spoken over me and accepted it as normal.
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Stephanie, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Stephanie, Stories of Reshaped Lives I used drugs socially until 2009. I was living a normal life with a job and my own apartment. Suddenly my mother passed away, and it sent me into a deep depressive state. Her death felt like a big part of me was missing. My dad and little sister depended
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Sharon, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Sharon, Stories of Reshaped Lives I am a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I pray that someday my descendants will thank God for the seeds that I am sowing today. I grew up in church and accepted Jesus as my savior, and was baptized at a young age. Circumstances in my preteen years caused me to
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Heather, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Heather, A Reshaped Life Themed birthday parties: check Disney World vacation: check High school academia team: check State all-star athlete: check Five bedroom home: check Although my Mama and Daddy made me the center of their universe, I still felt alone, lost, and empty because of the extreme dysfunction of their relationship. My Daddy was
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Candice, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Candice, Stories of Reshaped Lives I started to take prescription drugs to help me sleep. Then my father suddenly passed away, a man who had adopted me and raised me as his own. He was my rescuer, protector, and my calm. Trying to find a “feeling of escape”, I began taking more than the prescribed
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Amber: Stories of Reshaped Lives
My name is Amber Collins. I was in addiction for over 20 years. My first memories of pain and fear started at three years old when I was molested in Sunday School. My mother was also verbally and physically abused. The enemy came after me in church because I am a threat to him. I
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David: Fifty for Fifty
David: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years I had lived more than half my life lost in addiction. I first got high when I was 13 years old, then spent the next 17 years of my life chasing that escape from life, trying to fill a void. I’ve seen both sides of addiction. The best way
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Kenan: 50 for 50
Kenan: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years I was 27 years old when I entered The Foundry, having battled opiates for over eight years. After my last arrest, my parents refused to bail me out until I had somewhere to go for help. That “help” was The Foundry Farm in Cullman. I had been raised
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Amber: Fifty for Fifty
Amber: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years Life in recovery is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It requires determination, diligence, and patience. You have to follow through with it every day once you commit to changing your life. The Foundry helped me realize that all the suffering, stress, and addiction comes from not knowing you
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Farrah: Fifty for Fifty
Farrah: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years I can’t speak for other rehabs, but The Foundry didn’t feel like rehab at all. The love I experienced there was beyond my expectations, and I needed that! It truly is “where lives are reshaped by the hands of God.” I met God in a fresh new way because
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Ashley Cox: Fifty for Fifty
Ashley Cox: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years Almost 6 years ago, I was at my rock bottom. Drugs had replaced all the important things in my life, and my relationships with my friends and family were broken. When I came to the Foundry, the staff worked patiently with me. Over the next 12 months, they
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Hunter: Fifty for Fifty
Hunter: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years I was an opiate addict for thirteen years and an IV heroin user for four of those years. I was caught up in the cycle of addiction and thought I’d never get out of it. For twelve of those years, I was a functioning addict. The year before I
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Mary: Fifty for Fifty
Mary: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years Mary is a mother of three and a grandmother of four. She graduated from The Foundry in 2003. What led her to The Foundry? “I was sick and tired of being on crack cocaine. I was tired of the way my life was spiraling downhill, and I wanted help.
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Michael: Fifty for Fifty
Michael Gilbert: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years I spent a total of 32 years in prison, 17 of those in federal prison. I was convicted of bank robbery, escape, and assault. I received a life sentence from the State of Alabama in 1998. I made parole in 2009, however, I was placed back into federal
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Ralph: Fifty for Fifty
Ralph: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years Close your eyes and imagine what someone struggling with an addiction looks like. There’s a good chance that what you imagined looks nothing like Ralph. The phrase, “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” normally means, the inside is better than the outside. For Ralph, it was just
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Judy: Fifty for Fifty
Judy: Fifty Stories for Fifty Years My name is Judy, and I live in Fultondale. I have two children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. I knew I needed help when I lost another job and was bout to lose my house again. My children said they no longer wanted to see me and prevented me
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Brian - Stories of Reshaped Lives
“The Foundry gave me direction. It gave me a starting point to where I could become a new believer, a Christian who is on fire for worship. It gave me a direction I could have in my music, becoming a worship leader at Daystar.” Graduates are part of what makes The Foundry so great! Their
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Wallace, Stories of Reshaped Lives
My name is Wallace, I’m 40 years old and I worked and used drugs for Satan. My life was a mess for 20+ years. I’d been to numerous rehabs but they all lacked one thing in helping in my recovery, God. The Foundry has helped me grow spiritually, and become more conscious of living a
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Cyndi, Stories of Reshaped Lives
I’ve had 10 years of addiction in pain pills, meth, and marijuana. What the Foundry has done for me is restore my relationship with Jesus. It is something I lost along the way due to sin. It has brought hope, structure, and discipline back into my life. The curriculum courses have been truly amazing. It
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Macy, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Macy, Stories of Reshaped Lives No one intentionally wants to be battered, abused, and living on the streets. Macy sure didn’t. Having grown up in the church, she knew of God, but never really “knew” Him. Macy told us “Had I known of His great love for me, I never would’ve gone searching for love.”
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Judd Drake, Stories of Reshaped Lives
Judd Drake, a graduate from The Foundry has returned to the same organization as a full-time staff member in order to show the love of God.
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Alana: Stories of Reshaped Lives
Alana, a reshaped life Alana dealt with addiction to pain medication and heroin for almost 10 years. She tried many times to win the battle against it on her own, but was unsuccessful in her attempts. After spending time in jail and learning her husband was filing for divorce, she realized she could not overcome
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A Brand New Person
I was losing everything a little bit at a time. . . Since the age of 12, Holly had been “in control.” When her mother died, she took responsibility for her younger sister. She believed she was in control too when she started using drugs in her late 20’s. I can stop when I want
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A Heart Restored by God's Love
Leann and her husband once had good jobs and a nice home where they were raising their three children. But Leann fell victim to an addiction that cost them their family and their future. “I was spending more and more money on drugs,” she shares. The couple eventually divorced, and her husband took custody of
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From Hunger to Hope
Imagine never eating a crisp salad or a fresh, juicy apple packed with wholesome nutrients your body needs to thrive. Unfortunately, this is the reality for some low-income families and senior adults in our community with limited access to transportation. The Foundry’s Mobile Food Pantry brings nourishment to our neighborhoods, driving into five low-income areas
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A Change of Heart
“I’ve never taken any kind of drugs… never smoked any type of cigarette or marijuana,” Israel says. Yet, he admits, he had an addiction to making fast money on the streets. But when he was arrested, the money didn’t matter. He was sentenced to prison for 15 years. “At that point I started to rely
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A Time for Peace and Healing
Throughout his childhood, Danny says, “My parents gave me their heart and soul and tried everything possible to keep me off drugs.” But as a teenager, his curiosity prevailed and he was introduced to crack cocaine. Danny rode motorcycles competitively and hoped to build a career from the sport. But fueling his growing addiction became
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Finally Fulfilling God's Call
“God was always part of my life… I always believed in Him,” John says. “But I always felt guilt and shame.” Abused and neglected as a child, he began using drugs to cope with the turmoil he felt inside. As he grew older, addiction took control, causing him to behave in ways that filled his
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A New Life of Promise and Hope
Cathie started using drugs at a party. “Everybody was doing it,” she says. In her early 20s at the time, she had no idea how addiction would come to rule her life. She built relationships with men who shared her habit, but they didn’t last. She stopped using when she had her two children, but
