Welcome to CF, please join us for our free breakfast and fellowship events in Sioux Falls
Welcome to CF, please join us for our free breakfast and fellowship events in Sioux Falls
2-2022 C.B.
When I was released from prison in 2017, I was sent to a halfway house in Sioux Falls. There was a bible study I had to attend and people from Celebrate Freedom also attended. I was invited to the weekly breakfast at Celebrate Freedom and to church. The breakfast time was a time for me to socialize with other people that were in the same situation, create new friendships, and where we helped each other with resources and job availability. We were encouraged to go to church of our choice. Celebrate Freedom provided transportation to church for many of us. Celebrate Freedom’s ministry emphasis was loving God and loving people. The ministry encouraged us to go to serve in various ways, so I got involved at the church, helped direct traffic at Jazz Fest, and delivered food to various places. I was able to reconnect with my family and people from Celebrate Freedom were willing to take me to North Dakota and chaperone the visit. I ended up going back to prison for 18 months and Celebrate Freedom helped me by staying in contact, taking care of my belongings, gave me encouraging support, and prayed for me. Upon being released again, I was blessed to be able to go into a Celebrate Freedom residence and was welcomed back into the program. I am thankful for the positive friendships and mentorship I have had as I integrate back into the community.
I am so grateful to Celebrate Freedom for encouraging me to really change my life and place my faith in a higher power. I was helpless with my addiction. The people at Celebrate Freedom faithfully transported me to Sunday morning breakfast, church, and Celebrate Recovery every week. After many long discussions after the meetings, I began to change and realize i needed to surrender my addiction. I moved to Mitchell and continued my journey and ended up relapsing. One night while in a bad way, I was stopped by a patrol car for no apparent reason. As I stepped out of the car, there was a needle on the ground right by my foot. I knew right there that God was real and taking control. While working my sobriety program, the truths, love, and acceptance that Celebrate Freedom's people demonstrated to me over and over became real to me. I am now 959 days clean and sober and am working as a counselor in a half-way house program.
To say I am grateful for Celebrate Freedom is an understatement. I was provided transportation to breakfast and church while I completed treatment for my addiction. When I left the Glory House and went my own way, they stayed in contact with me. They always told me that God loved me, that I was important, that I could be free from the addictive life. One day I was sick and tired of running, and couch surfing, and not knowing if my "stuff" was going to go missing . I reached out to Celebrate Freedom . They came and got me, waited for me while I got my stuff together, and took me in. I had a lot of trauma I had bottled up inside. They allowed me to grieve for people I had lost, and provided a positive sober community of support as I left my life of addition. The encouragement I got as I looked for work and the assistance I received until my paychecks were able to help pay for lodging and provisions gave me room to breathe without fear of being homeless. The programs I was to attend were exactly what I needed to get my life back on track. I learned to trust again, to believe I was good enough, to understand that God really did have a plan for my life. They encouraged me to reach out and take class in the community. Through the classes, and church and recovery groups, I realized I couldn't do this changing on my own and I placed my faith in a higher power. I was clean for a 14 months. Then trying to prove a point, I relapsed; I realized quickly how ridiculous that was. I immediately told my mentor at Celebrate Freedom and did not get condemnation or kicked out of the program,. I did get love and support and some guidance to start my clean time over. I am now I am now 135 days clean and sober and am enjoying my work. I just moved out of the sober living house into my own living space. I am free and happy and know I couldn't have done it without Celebrate Freedom's support.
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