Marcus’s Story
Marcus has managed much of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission for years, but his life wasn’t always stable. “I used to work for Harley-Davidson,” Marcus says. “It was a really good job and I enjoyed it. But one day they had a big layoff, including me. Suddenly I…
LaToria’s Story
“Proverbs 3:5 says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,” says LaToria, a 36-year-old single mother living at Joy House. “So every day, I get up and tell God, ‘I trust you. I trust you for the clothes I’m wearing and the food we’ll eat. When…
Michael’s Story
I grew up in a Christian home. All my life, I went to church, I read the Scriptures, I sang the hymns, and I looked like a good Christian boy. But it was just a disguise. A lie. I have never been able to connect with people, not even family. I was always a…
Tenesha’s Story
”My home life was pretty crazy as a kid,” says Tenesha. “My mom chose alcohol over being a nurturing mother. But I always found a sense of normalcy at school.” From grade school on, Tenesha dove into books and homework, and she always made the honor roll. Education was her escape from home —…
Marshall’s Story
Last April, Marshall was cold, hungry, broke and alone on the streets of Milwaukee. He had just blown his last paycheck on crack cocaine. He hadn’t eaten in two days. Worse, after a 30-year addiction, he had burned every bridge to friends and family and had nowhere else to turn for shelter. “I was…
Christopher’s Story
Christmas doesn’t mean much when you grow up in a messed-up family. I learned early on that I wasn’t worth much. So I determined to make life all about me and whatever I could get. And that involved a lot of drugs and alcohol. Why not? Nothing mattered. I didn’t care about anything. So…
Rebecca’s Story
Rebecca was only a year old when her parents divorced. But she maintained a loving relationship with both of them — especially her father, whom she adored. In fact, after she graduated from high school, she moved to North Carolina to live with him. “The problem was,” Rebecca recalled, “my dad was going through…
Charles’s Story
I grew up rough on the streets. The streets and gangs taught me a warped version of what it meant to be a man. Money, women, sex, showboating, drugs, staying up all night, fighting — these are what the streets taught me a man was all about. Some of the kids I grew up…
Latiesha’s Story
All through Latiesha’s youth, she dreamed of being a pediatric nurse. She certainly had all the tools: “I had an amazing childhood, with two responsible parents who laid a very good foundation for me,” she says. “I was a good student, and I always saw myself in the medical field.” But then things changed.…
James’s Story
James finally hit rock bottom. Lying in bed at his brother’s house, coming off his latest crack high, grief overwhelmed him. Crack cocaine had cost him everything. His wife and kids had left him, he’d lost his home and car, and he’d spent every last penny he had on drugs. For one moment, he…
