Victoria’s Story
I was born in Fresno, CA and soon after went into the foster care system. I felt very lonely and was also afraid. In fifth grade my mother was able to get custody of my brother and I and we moved to Visalia, CA. She ended up getting a job at Visalia Rescue Mission and that was how I became familiar with VRM. We lived in what is now called the House of Hope, that was home for a couple years.
I grew up on the north side of Visalia. In high school I started hanging out with the wrong crowd; I was constantly getting into fights and I was partying a lot. My senior year of high school I got pregnant and everything changed. I didn’t want to be a statistic, so I worked extra hard to graduate. It was a lot of work, but I knew I wanted to be a good mom. So, I did it.
I got married and had two more children. I was a wife and a mom for a long time and one day things started to get tough for me. I was working full-time and was also going to school to pursue a career in nursing. Managing both eventually became overwhelming and I started to use drugs secretly in order to keep myself going.
In 2015 my husband and I got divorced and little by little, I started to lose everything- my home, car, job, and eventually my kids. Losing my kids was when I really gave up trying. The house I was living in was sold and I ended up on the streets, going from house to house, doing things I never thought I would do just to survive. I had isolated myself from everyone, I was on drugs and I just didn’t care.
I got into an abusive relationship that turned into a domestic violence situation. It was hard for me to believe I was a victim in the matter because I would fight back. I thought it was fine, plus I’d grown up seeing this and it seemed very normal to me. My boyfriend at the time ended up going to prison for two years and when he got out we got back together. I thought things might change, that we would sober up, get my kids back, and have a good life together.
The day before I went to court to request weekend visitation rights with my kids, I caught him doing drugs in the bathroom and knew I couldn’t go to the court. I caught him many times and eventually ended up giving in and joining him. In the midst of that I had managed to get weekend visitation rights with my kids. I would sober up the week before, visit with them, and go out and get high again after they left. This pattern became hard to manage and I started making up excuses as to why I couldn’t see them. I started missing visits and eventually went back to not seeing them at all.
This went on for a couple months, then I got into trouble with my boyfriend again and ended up in jail. Because I was in jail I missed my daughter’s graduation, she was my baby and I missed it. The morning I got out of jail I also missed my son’s graduation. I remember thinking, I couldn’t do that to my kids, I couldn’t go on like this.
When I got back to my boyfriend’s house, he wouldn’t let me in. Things ended up escalating and getting violent. I remember thinking, this wasn’t me and I couldn’t do this anymore. The police showed up and I looked at them and just said I wanted to go to jail. I needed to get away from all of the mess. I’ll never forget the cop looking at me and saying, “You look halfway decent get your life together for your kids. I’ll take you to jail, you need to get away from this man, he’s not going to change, but you can.”
I knew I needed help. I called my mother and told her I was tired of the way I was living and wanted to change my life; I told her I’d even go into a program. When she picked me up from jail she surprised me with my daughter. We all spent the weekend together and then they brought me to Visalia Rescue Mission. I knew this was the only place I wanted to go because it felt like home due to my history with this place.
I was welcomed into the Life Change Academy. I didn’t know it was a year program, but I knew this was something I needed to do first and foremost for myself, then for my kids. This year has flown by so quickly and I have experienced so much restoration in the way I see God, in myself, and in my family. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been hard. There have been many obstacles I’ve had to face, but choosing to not run away and trust God has been the biggest gift. I can’t imagine having to deal with this without God.
I don’t know where the Lord will lead me from here, but I have always had a special place in my heart for Visalia Rescue Mission. I have a heart for helping women. I want to give away what I was given; to help others the way I was helped. I want to be able to help a woman get on her feet, get her kids back, but ultimately lead people to the Lord.