Newsletter Fall 2024
Taylor Finds a Family and a Future at Lifehouse
Taylor grew up in a small country town in the South. Her family was an upper middle-class family that lived a good life. Taylor recalls fun family vacations, a nice home and never really doing without anything she wanted or needed. She was a good kid growing up, always respectful of her parents. When she was around 14 years old, she was introduced to marijuana. She drifted toward the wrong crowd and started drinking and partying. Soon she was doing heavier drugs, and the drug use continued through high school. Taylor graduated and headed to college. Her goal was to become a nurse, but she struggled because of drug use. She just couldn’t juggle everything. She would start classes but couldn’t finish. She ended up dropping out of college. Taylor continued to use drugs and then found herself pregnant.
Despite knowing what drugs could do to a baby in pregnancy, she couldn’t stop. She started seeing a counselor, and would get sober for a little bit, but then go back to using. She tried to enroll in a Teen Challenge program near her home but backed out. Her sister-in-law found a Teen Challenge program in Louisville, Priscilla’s Place. Moving away from her drug-using friends is what Taylor needed to get clean. After finishing the treatment program at Priscilla’s Place, they referred Taylor to Lifehouse Maternity Home to finish her pregnancy and begin working on her goal to become a nurse. Taylor loved Lifehouse, “It was so clean, and made me feel like I was back home, complete with a grocery list on the refrigerator where I could write down food I wanted. I felt safe.”
At Lifehouse Maternity Home, Taylor found a community of women also facing an unexpected pregnancy. After having a healthy baby boy, Taylor enrolled in nursing school. “Balancing school, work and caring for my son, along with my responsibilities at Lifehouse can be difficult. But I see the bigger picture. It would be so much harder to do all of this on my own. At Lifehouse I can focus on school and saving money. I don’t have to worry about losing my housing and being on the street.” Taylor said that living at Lifehouse wasn’t without challenges. “There are many different personalities with different participants and staff. I have had to learn conflict resolution and compromise. I learned it is not always all about me. I love watching my son play with the other kids. It is like an extended family at Lifehouse Maternity Home. Having other moms around helps me not feel lonely. There is always someone to talk to whether it is another mom, a House Mom, the Case Manager or other staff members. I love the personal notes we get from House Moms that are encouraging.
Taylor says she has also learned the value of hard work and consistency. “I never would have been this far in nursing school or saved money. I can find clothes for myself and my son in the clothing closet here. It is always fun when a donor drops off something or sends something. It is like getting a present! That has helped me so much in saving money when my son is growing out of clothes so fast. He has plenty of toys to play with in the playroom. Lifehouse Maternity Home has helped me worry less about making money to make ends meet and taught me more about budgeting and saving money.” Taylor says her faith has also grown. She finds time to reflect on the Bible by doing devotionals and attending Bible study. “I am passionate about learning about God. When life throws a curve ball, sometimes our faith is the first thing to go, but I know that God is always there for me.” Taylor has one year of nursing school left. She believes if it wasn’t for Lifehouse, she would have given up and never finished college. “Being at Lifehouse has gotten me farther than I ever would have been. I learned structure, and I needed structure. Without it things are ten times harder. I may have started drinking again, which could have led me to relapse in using drugs.”
Taylor is thankful for our maternity house and the impact it has had on her and her son. “Lifehouse Maternity Home is changing lives. For someone who is looking to make a change in their life for the better, this is the place to be for a single mom. I believe it was truly God-led that I ended up here.” She plans to live at Lifehouse for the full four years. “I want to finish nursing school, and that is number one! I hope to start working as a nurse and save up more money. I want to move closer to my family and buy a house.” “I will miss the way it feels when I come into the maternity house after school or work and smell dinner being made, and the House Mom telling me to come and make a plate for dinner. It just feels so much like a home.”