When Karen showed up at Water Street Mission the second time, she knew what some people would think — you failed the first time. In fact, her own children thought so. “They thought I was taking a step backwards,” she said.
She understood why. The first time she came, she didn’t finish the program. “I don’t think I was broken enough the first time. I had hit rock bottom emotionally, but I still thought I could control it.” She left, tried to make it on her own, and ended up in the same hard places she thought she’d left behind.
But what others saw as backtracking, she saw as her only way forward. “I came back to Water Street and said, ‘I need help,’ and I knew that Water Street would help me.”
Her initial journey began years earlier, caring for her mother with dementia and later her father through cancer. The days were long and quiet — the hum of oxygen machines, the smell of antiseptic wipes, the creak of floorboards as she checked on them.
“Everything in my life had been taking care of other people and doing for other people. And… yeah, Karen – I was gone.”
By the time her father passed, she had lost her sense of self — and soon after, her home and pets. Coming to Water Street the first time gave her a taste of stability, but she wasn’t ready to face what needed to change. The second time, she didn’t hold back. “I went 110% in. I took all the classes that I could. I did all the work I’m supposed to do, did all the reading, did all the meetings. It wasn’t just a stop gap; it was a healing and a restorative process for me.”
That process even opened the door to a conversation she thought she’d never have — with her daughter. Months of silence ended with one phone call: “I am so, so sorry. I was at fault. You were right to be afraid, to be nervous,” she told her. Her daughter replied, “Mom, you’re forgiven. But you need to forgive me too, because I was wrong too.”
After completing the program, Karen moved into an apartment with a friend she met along the way. “God blesses in extraordinary ways,” she said. “I don’t want to say I’m living the dream, but I’m living the dream…the ability to cook again, having my own space, it’s incredible.” They even plan to open their home for Thanksgiving to people who had nowhere else to go and multiply the blessing they’ve received.
To Karen, returning wasn’t failure — it was proof she trusted the people who had helped her before, and that she still believed change was possible. “That’s not failing. That’s refusing to give up.” Because of partners like you, neighbors like Karen know they’re not alone—they know God, their community, and you believe in them. Thank you for praying, giving, and serving so lives can be changed and hope can ripple through our community.
