Kristin’s Story
Kristin is the "why" for New Each Morning. It is our hope for each woman to experience the same journey and come out the other side thriving and fully supported in the process.
Kristin's journey to freedom from addiction nearly cost her life, but it speaks to her courage and bravery as she has overcome the odds - finding freedom and restoration.
Her journey began while working at St. Charles, when she started drinking and using recreationally. Outside of work, a lot of her time was spent with people that led similar lives and encouraged her in this direction - which made it all the more difficult to make different choices. As time went on, Kristin found herself using and drinking more frequently, and soon reached a point where she couldn't maintain her responsibilities at work and being a mom.
It felt like hitting a wall; everytime Kristin tried to quit, the harder it got.
After being evicted, Kristin stayed at hotels. Wanting to find a stable place to live again so her kids could stay with her, she found a room in a shared house with a roommate. This unfortunately ended up being an unhealthy situation, and she had no choice but to live in her car until something else opened up. Her next several living situations landed her in unhealthy places, where she ended up wishing she was staying in her car due to the chaos and unstable environments.
Even still, Kristin kept on.
She began applying for jobs to try and find some momentum, and was eventually hired. However, as Kristin was still using and drinking heavily, she wasn't able to sustain the job.
Meanwhile, she missed her kids and deeply desired to have them back in her life - but the situation wasn't right at the time. Her ex-husband ended up getting temporary custody of the kids.
Kristin's health began to steadily decline, to the extent where she knew she needed serious help. After being hospitalized for a bacterial infection in her lungs, she began a new job at a chiropractic office the next day. However, that morning Kristin was unable to move and called 911.
Upon being admitted at the hospital, it turned out that her previous diagnosis only revealed part of the seriousness of her condition. Kristin had developed a MRSA infection, and had to have her lungs drained along with other procedures to extract everything draining from her body. It was a scary situation to be in, understanding the severity of her condition.
While in the hospital, her kids would come visit which sparked joy and hope in the midst of her body healing. But when faced with the reality of not knowing what to do after being released from the hospital, Kristin was at a loss.
She heard about Shepherd's House, and decided to apply. A week after being discharged from the hospital, she found out she was accepted. Although she was able to maintain sobriety for a while, Kristin ended up relapsing while she was there. Through some unfortunate events due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, she ended up with another charge which landed her in jail for a night.
This experience shifted things for Kristin, realizing that the types of people she was still spending time with didn't have her best interest at heart, which both of her charges were results of. She found a strengthened resolve to pursue sobriety and find freedom from the addiction that she had struggled with for so long.
While she was in the program at Shepherd's House for two years, Kristin met the founder of New Each Morning, Cathie Coe Sipe. Through the support and partnership of New Each Morning's advocacy and connection to local resources, Kristin found a new strength and courage to continue the journey forward. Having the ongoing, one-to-one connection with Cathie changed the way she was able to see her options and look at building a new life for herself.
After Shepherd's House, she ended up getting a job at Summit, which she had worked at previously for 15 years and still had relationships there.
With New Each Morning's consistent understanding and encouragement, Kristin was able to walk through the process of having her record expunged - which was granted after a long process that required patience and waiting.
Kristin celebrates being sober and free from addiction since 2018. She now volunteers as a Connection Advocate for New Each Morning, and loves being able to give back to the organization that caused such a shift in her recovery process. Being able to give support to women walking out of similar paths and lend personal experience from her own courageous story has made such an impact for the organization.
Kristin is the "why" for New Each Morning. It is our hope for each woman to experience the same journey and come out the other side thriving and fully supported in the process.