Skip to the main content.
Donate Need help?
Donate Need help?

Shanena (pronounced Shane-na) completed UGM Women's LIFE Recovery at the Center for Women and Children in Spring 2022 and recently reached out to UGM, hoping to share her testimony with as wide an audience as possible. We hope her message encourages you to see hope in every life, no matter the situation.

"I feel like someone needs to hear this: You're okay and it's okay. Especially if you're new to the UGM program or thinking about starting, you may be feeling like you can't do it, you're not okay, and your past is too much. Then please listen: I have been through a 12-year meth addiction, and before that, drugs, drinking, and smoking cigarettes all started by the age of 10. I went through the UGM program, and it was not easy—there were so many days I felt I wasn't okay and I wasn't going to make it. Some days, I felt my life of drugs, my past, and all the people I had hurt was just too much, and how could I forgive the people that had hurt me? At first, my thoughts were, ‘They don't deserve my forgiveness and why should I forgive them for hurting me?’

"Some days, I felt my life of drugs, my past, and all the people I had hurt was just too much, and how could I forgive the people that had hurt me?"

shanena_1.2"At that point in time I thought I was still in control, but one day I was told, 'Shanena, you once were in control of your life and how did that work out for you?' That really got me thinking! Yeah, I was, and I ran it into the ground. And honestly, when I first went into the UGM program I wasn't a believer. I thought if there was a God, He wouldn't have let me get hurt or make me grow up in a drug house then turn to drugs myself at such a young age, but as I went farther in the program and got into trauma therapy, I gave more and more to the program and to the Lord.

“It wasn't easy for me and I didn't make it easy on the people at UGM who were trying to help me, but I did it, and now today I'm so glad I did and I'm so glad I gave my life to the Lord. I figured out that God had been with me the whole time—my whole life—and thankfully the ladies at UGM never gave up on me even at my worst times.

"What I learned is sometimes you have to take life minute by minute, care for yourself, learn from your mistakes because we are all human; we will make mistakes in life and recovery, and it's okay. Just try to do the next best thing, don't let your mistakes break you or push you back into your addiction. Just keep going! You can do it, and you are worth recovery. You are worth good things and a good life. Just keep going.

"...don't let your mistakes break you or push you back into your addiction. Just keep going! You can do it, and you are worth recovery. You are worth good things and a good life, just keep going."

shanena_1.1"I'm proud to say next month I will have 2 1/2 years sober. I have never had this long sober and I owe it all to UGM and the Lord. So please listen and do what is asked of you in program even if you think it won't help or if you have tried it before... then do it again because they know what you are doing, and they will help you be able to do the things you want in life and build a life you never thought you could have. It is all worth it. I'm a completely different person than the person who walked in their doors. I'm the person I was always meant to be and the person I never thought I could ever be. Believe, have faith, and trust the process. I'm living proof, and I believe if I could do it then anyone can."

"Believe, have faith, and trust the process. I'm living proof, and I believe if I could do it then anyone can." 

 

 

Click here to DOWNLOAD 5 tips on how to pick a CHARITY

 

Holiday Ways To Give

5 min read

Holiday Ways To Give

The holiday season is a time for giving, and what better way to spread some cheer than by helping those in need? Homeless and low-income individuals...

Read More
Gratitude in Recovery

5 min read

Gratitude in Recovery

One of UGM’s core values is Thankfulness, and this month we reflect on the pursuit of gratitude in our day-to-day lives and in the work of healing...

Read More
A Pathfinder Responding to the Call from God

3 min read

A Pathfinder Responding to the Call from God

by Daniel Dailey, UGM volunteer I used to think, “If I’m going to be involved with anything like UGM, it needs to be effective.” The Holy Spirit...

Read More
Lifelong Recovery

Lifelong Recovery

Five years. It takes five years actively pursuing recovery for an addict to have a strong chance (about 85%) of lifelong recovery. Five years minus...

Read More
From Mere Survival to Chasing Dreams: Tyler’s Story

From Mere Survival to Chasing Dreams: Tyler’s Story

“Meth makes you really fidgety, hyper-focused on the smallest things. So, I picked at my face when I was using...and I gave myself sepsis.” Tyler was...

Read More
I Was Ashamed

I Was Ashamed

I was ashamed, and you lifted my head. Christian was once interviewed for an article in Salon Magazine entitled, “Nazi Family Values: Chewing the fat...

Read More