Concrete may seem solid, but it often contains tiny, microscopic cracks invisible to the naked eye. These cracks provide just enough space for plant roots to start growing. The ability of a flower to grow through cement is a testament to the resilience of nature;
My Story....
This is my story and the story of many youth and young adults whose lives our program has touched.
Coming from foster care, I held the status of a child coming from over-discipline, which the state considered physical abuse. Enduring also the stigma and trauma that comes from an abusive relationship as well as being a single African American unwed mother, my life was seemingly concrete. How could I overcome the fragments of my past? How could I pick up the shards and broken pieces of myself and become the mother my sons needed me to be?
I unintentionally moved to Kingsport, Tennessee (by a scenario that I can only describe as God's hand) with a trunk filled with all the clothes and personal items I could fit into three garbage bags and two little boys, seven and four years of age. Like a seed, despite being surrounded by the 'concrete' of my circumstance, I somehow held the promise of growth and beauty deep, perhaps in a subconscious I didn't even realize. Right when I was about to give up on life, my path led me to a community of support within New Destiny Ministry Center; this group of people loved me back to life.
I was taught how to become the mother my children needed, as well as forgiveness and patience. I was allowed to show my weakness and not have to navigate purely on survival. Through their love and support, I learned how to manage my emotions and develop healthy habits. Without realizing cracks began to grow in my cement walls. As the flower pushes through the concrete, I also pushed through, healed from my physical and emotional traumas, and set free from the guilt and shackles of my past. I'd finally found my path to emerge stronger.
I was that wildflower reaching the surface, blooming for the world to see, becoming healed.
As I toured the city one evening, I saw many other seedlings needing that love. Thus began Restoration Hope!
Through this program, the participant becomes more decisive in their determination toward future goals while learning emotional and behavioral triggers and how to cultivate those behaviors constructively. In the Tri-cities area of East Tennessee, our structured mentorship program assists high-risk youth in our community with a predisposition to drug use, violence, and unresolved trauma behavior. Many of the youth in our program are from single-parent homes, have witnessed or experienced domestic violence, are displaced after aging out of foster care, or are recommended for alternative schooling and housing from volatile home environments or unaccompanied minors.
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.