Yuri grew up surrounded by violence. Her mother struggled with addiction, and Yuri witnessed things no child should have to see. By age 14, she had turned to alcohol and gang activity to cope with the trauma she’d endured. 

“I did whatever I wanted. I felt a lot of anger inside… along with loneliness, insecurity and hopelessness.”

Then, Yuri got married and had her first child when she was 15 years old – which led her to turn her life around. “Unfortunately, I followed in my mother’s footsteps with addiction. But God sent my daughter to change my life.” 

As a young mother, Yuri stopped drinking. Later, she even had two more children. But when her marriage of 13 years fell apart, she again turned to alcohol to numb her broken heart. This time, she struggled to overcome her addiction on her own. She eventually lost her job and became homeless.

When she was at rock bottom, Yuri came to the Christian Aid Center, where she joined our Healing Home program. “At that point, I was willing to go to any lengths to get sober,” she says. “I finally surrendered my will and my life over to God’s care.”

Yuri worked hard in our recovery program and healed emotionally and spiritually. She also developed the life skills she needs to handle whatever comes her way in the future.

“I’ve learned a new way of life,” she says. “Before, I was insecure. I didn’t trust myself or anybody else. Now I am confident. God has a purpose for me. I know He wants me to seek Him and love others.”

Now a graduate of our program, Yuri dreams of a brighter future. She plans to go back to school and restore her relationship with her family. “I want to get back what I lost. I want to follow my dreams,” she says. “I LOST EVERYTHING. I WAS DYING OUT THERE.”

This Easter, Yuri is experiencing new life! Thank you for empowering her to follow Christ’s calling in her life.“I am living proof that miracles do happen. I have hope and joy. The CAC gave me the opportunity to recover.”

Life as we knew it has drastically changed for all of us. It seems each new day brings more uncertainty. But despite the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, the Christian Aid Center is still here serving some of the most vulnerable members of our community—people experiencing homelessness, hunger and need. 

Because of this crisis, we’ve had to make a lot of changes to protect the health and safety of our guests; such as keeping them on campus 24 hours-a-day and screening them daily for COVID-19 symptom. These efforts, in turn, also protect the health of our community and have established CAC as an “essential” service. 

To follow appropriate physical distancing, we closed our community dining room and now provide meals in a “grab-and-go” format for our guests and for anyone in our community in need of food. These changes bring additional costs, and that’s why the support of our community is so appreciated and needed more than ever before.

As the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order continues, guests staying at the Christian Aid Center have found some meaningful ways to reach out beyond our walls and give back to our community. The ladies have been sewing face masks for our guests, volunteers and staff to use. Thank you Gia for teaching them and thank you ladies for keeping us healthy!