There’s nothing quite as strong as a mother’s love. The moment her baby was born, Sereeta knew she
would fight with everything she had to keep her son. She never wanted to feel the pain of giving up her child again.
Since she was 19 years old, Sereeta struggled with
addiction. She went to rehab and stayed sober for six years. But then, she became a victim of domestic
violence and lost custody of her five children.
Losing her children led to a relapse, and she found herself battling not
only her partner, but also the addiction again.
“I could not get away from him. He would try to control me.”
Desperate to escape the violence, she left and began living
on the streets. She slept at a shopping
center and tried to find resources for help.
At a charity donations center, she was approached by a woman who wanted
to help. She got her in touch with Cedar
House to overcome her meth and marijuana addictions, and that’s when Sereeta’s
life began to change.
“I knew I wanted a change but didn’t know how.”
After years of struggle and hardship, Sereeta developed
problems with anger management. She
didn’t know how to channel the anger and disappointment she was feeling. It surprised her to find that the staff at
Cedar House were willing to work with her and had faith that she could turn
things around.
“I saw that different people had hope in me.”
Just a week after moving to Cedar House, she was
hospitalized due to complications with her pregnancy. During her three weeks in
the hospital, she regularly called Cedar House for reassurance that everything
would be okay.
“I didn’t want to lose my son. I didn’t want to feel that pain again.”
Sereeta endured an 8-hour surgery and a blood transfusion,
but her baby was born healthy! The next
day, she was broken hearted when a police officer and a social worker arrived
in her hospital room to deliver papers telling her that she wouldn’t be taking her
baby home.
Four days after her son was born, Sereeta left the hospital
and returned to Cedar House determined to make a change.
“That’s when I believe my journey started. I was fighting for that little boy. I never fought so hard for anything in my life.”
With 34 staples from surgery and a fierce resentment of many of the
people in her life, Sereeta had a hard time adjusting. She continued to struggle with anger
management and the trauma of her life before treatment.
“The first month was hard. It was a battle for me.”
During her six months at Cedar House, Sereeta overcame her addiction;
she learned to manage her anger; and she grew in her faith.
“I didn’t realize God had something else in store for me. I just had to trust in the process.”
From Cedar House, Sereeta moved on to other transitional
housing and eventually got to have overnights with her son. On August 22, that led to extended stays with
her son, and finally on September 5 she earned full custody of her baby boy.
Today, Sereeta is a Full time Civic Engagement Specialist
for a charitable foundation. She lives
in an apartment with her son and spends every other weekend with all of her
children. She’s been clean for 20
months!
“I have established leadership skills, budgeting skills, and learned how to be a productive member of society as a mother.”
Looking back at her experience at Cedar House, Sereeta
recalls the “true, honest support” she found there. She can’t begin to express the love she feels
for the staff. The Acceptance Prayer she
was given during her time at Cedar House took her a long way through her
journey, and she knows that gifts like that are steps the staff takes that are
well beyond their job description. The caring staff at Cedar House goes above and beyond for clients like Sereeta every day.
“If it wasn’t for Cedar House, I would still be traumatized by the domestic violence. The staff members showed me love like I’ve never been shown before.”
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