Meet Carla, a recent graduate of our long-term New Beginnings Program. After graduating, Carla went into our Transition Program where she began working and saving her money.

Natchitoches Coalition on Homelessness found Carla wondering with no where to turn. They provided for her immediate needs and transported her to the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission.

Carla came to the Mission completely broken and in despair. Carla witnessed horrifying domestic abuse as a child which repeated in her own adult relationships. Carla’s third marriage had suddenly ended when her husband decided to pursue a transgender lifestyle.

This left Carla not only mourning the loss of yet another relationship but also feeling like something was wrong with her as a woman.

Carla did not have any way of supporting herself, she had been a stay-at-home wife and mother for her entire adult life. Carla never had a job or her own bank account. Carla was ready to just give up on life. But God had other plans for her.

When Carla joined our Life Recovery Program, she was closed off and kept to herself. But she did the work, read her Bible and attended chapel services.

As Carla allowed God to do a new thing in her life. She began working through her past traumas and her walls came crumbling down. We witnessed Carla forming new relationships, helping women coming in the same doors she had come through and volunteering to take on more responsibilities. “I’m not doing it for myself or for other people, I’m doing it as a thank you to God for helping me get here and changing my life!”

After graduating the New Beginnings Program, Carla quickly landed the perfect job for her, a Sunshine Maid at a skilled nursing facility. Carla was finally able to open her very own bank account.

Carla diligently saved her money and is now living in her own apartment. Carla is living out her Jeremiah 29:11. She has hopes and dreams of helping those experiencing homelessness in California.