“As a teenager, I was angry, confused, afraid and full of self-doubt,” says Dakara, a 22-year-old single mother with three children at Joy House. “There was no love in my family. You couldn’t call it a home. I didn’t have a father in my life, and I experienced a lot of abuse. There were a lot of dark secrets that left me feeling like I was nothing.”

After having her first child at 15, Dakara dropped out of high school. Feeling hopeless and unloved, she spent the next seven years jumping from place to place. She felt her life growing more and more out of control—and she feared she was going to repeat the cycle of dysfunction she experienced in her own family.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “I was just this lost girl who needed to be found. But I had three kids to think of, and I knew I needed to get my life together. So I came to Joy House.”

At Joy House, Dakara found the solid ground she needed. “The staff is so nurturing and loving. They support us with food and clothes and everything we need. I’m learning to be a better mom, how to save money and how to nurture my kids in ways I never got at home. Joy House is full of the moms and aunties I never had before. I’ve never felt like this.”

Most important, Dakara is seeking the Lord with all her heart and soul. “I dedicated my life to Jesus, and every day I’m seeing how real He is. For the first time, I see a future for myself.”

“I want the donors to know that someday, thanks to their support, my kids are going to look back at this and know their mom made it.”