me too…

Every time I sit down to write I ask God to guide my thoughts and my hands to accurately depict His voice. I approach my keypad in fear most days, fully believing I have peaked in my last piece. But, today is different. Today, God gave me the immense task of writing about what He is doing in Hope is Alive. To accurately portray the mystical qualities of an organization that chases after God’s heart. It is a heavy burden that I am afraid I can’t accomplish. But, I’ll try.

Why is HIA different? I get calls all day long from families looking for help, addicts in recovery and out and desperate people looking for a place to find a safe haven. There are lots of options for sober living. I get it. So, why would I take an immense pay cut, work over 80 hours a week and dedicate my life to a sober living program when I’m not a drug addict? Because God’s hand is so firmly placed on HIA that the minute He said, “Go”, I changed every detail of my life and moved. It is a CALLING. And that changes everything.

 I can tell you our homes are nicer, which they are. I can tell you our structure is tighter, which it is. That we have incredible outings and fun that HIA pays for, which we do. Or, that we put on huge recovery events where residents can tell their story and meet Darryl Strawberry along the way, which they can. But that doesn’t explain the intangibles that truly make up Hope is Alive. The magic that happens when residents are led to radical honesty in their life. The moment the spark of joy is ignited inside a resident that no longer saw a future for their lives. The ability to come with all of your baggage, lay it out in front of us and say here I am, my mistakes, my failures, my lies, all of it and someone says, “me too”.

Hope is Alive is not just a sober living home. In fact, sobriety is just a qualifier to get you in the door. It is a movement where you are cared for and nurtured as a child of God and a whole person. Lance always says ask any of us where a resident is and we can tell you not only where they are, what they ate for lunch, the issues they are struggling with and which step they are on. See, we care about the little things. Because the little things add up to the big things and lives are changed.

“Lives are changed” seems to be a generic term these days that is used so often it has lost its power. But there is no better term to describe what happens within our walls. Residents come to us broken. With no idea how to dig themselves out from the stigma of being an addict, the court issues, the families they have shattered, the financial mess that is so shameful they can’t even begin to look up. They don’t know what it feels like to be fully known by another person, the bad and the good. At HIA everyday we start anew. We sit down, break bread and slowly dig through the shame and consequences with speaking the TRUTH into their lives. That they matter. They are a son or daughter of the King. That it isn’t going to happen overnight but your family can be restored. We can dig you out of the financial ruin. You can have the life that you never felt worthy of having.

You becomes WE. And with your brothers and sisters chasing after God your life will be restored within our walls. I tell the ladies every meeting this is but a short blip in your life but it is a short blip that will change the trajectory of your lives. Maybe all the drug and alcohol abuse lead you to our doors but it will no longer define you when you walk through that door the final time. You will leave with an army of people behind you. People who will walk through life with you, answer the phone, say a prayer for you and be there to celebrate each of life’s special moments that you deserve to have. I wish everyone could have an HIA in their lives, drug addict or not. There is something magical at HIA and it starts and ends with, “me too”.

-Allyson VinZant, Director of HIA Women’s Program