Services and Programs - Changing Lives

Amazing Love

"God never gives up on us," says 37-year-old Sidonia, a guest in our Women's Center. Sidonia grew up in Hartford with a father and than a stepfather who abused her mother. By the time Sidonia was 15, she and her mother were fighting all the time and she turned to drinking to escape.

From there, Sidonia's life consisted of a series of her own abusive relationships that left her alone with three children and addicted to alcohol, PCP and prescription drugs.

Out of concern for her children, Sidonia gave temporary custody of her kids to her mother. "It was all downhill after I lost my kids," Sidonia remembers. "I had to move out of my apartment. I was homeless."

Eventually Sidonia's bad decisions landed her in jail and then a series of rehab programs. It was in one of the rehab programs that a counselor told Sidonia about Bridgeport Rescue Mission.

"I was relieved when I walked through these doors," Sidonia says. "I was welcomed here. I was loved."

Sidonia now sees how God's amazing love was demonstrated throughout her troubled journey. "Bridgeport Rescue Mission is love to me," she shares. "I have learned here I can love myself and God loves me too."

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