A little love and compassion in the face of trauma started the change in Gaile’s life. Friends like you made sure it continued.
Here’s how it all began: After being sexually assaulted, she went to a clinic to get examined. “Lo and behold, the doctor was a Christian,” Gaile says.
The nurse was, too. Even just talking about what happened next brings tears to Gaile’s eyes. “The nurse, Gene, said, ‘I’ve never seen people that survive this.’ He said, ‘You promise me you will never get in this situation again. And you keep going.’”
No Condemnation
The nurse, Gene, wasn’t condemning Gaile. He wasn’t blaming her for what had happened to her. He saw the problem – she was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and if she didn’t stop, he knew she would die.
In his role, he loved Gaile the best way that he could – by telling her that she was worth more than how she had been treated and how she had been treating herself. In that moment, Gaile began to see herself differently.
The Love Didn’t Stop
When Gaile was being discharged, she met more people who showed her love – two women who had gone through the Transformations Program. They told her about the Mission and encouraged her to come. Gaile, who was 37 at the time, had been battling addiction since she was just 13.
“My sister dated a rock and roll star for eight years . . . So I grew up in that environment,” Gaile says. There was always a Jim Beam bottle on top of the refrigerator.”
The “rock and roll” lifestyle just became part of her life until it destroyed it. “I had to find the next pill, the next drink . . . Then my life would start,” she says.
Desperate to get help, Gaile tried other programs, but none of them worked. When she came to the Mission and was shown love and given the tools to learn to love herself, that’s when things really changed.
“I got the therapy that I needed with this program,” she says.
Living In Love
Today, Gaile is over 4 years sober. She works at a local organization that helps other people suffering from addiction get the help they need. She goes to Bible study weekly, babysits the child of another woman she met at the Mission, and has restored relationships with her whole family, including her own children who her sister raised while Gaile was trapped in addiction.
“Before the Mission, I didn’t even know who I was,” she says. Now she knows who she is. She knows she is loved.
