Robin’s Story
“Once I did get to know God, it was wonderful.”
“Sometimes when you're addicted and the choices that you make are not your choices, it's hard to get out of that addiction...”
As Robin left jail, she received a referral to Simonka Place. Not thinking much of her agreement to sleep there. She simply saw it as a place to crash while she figured out her next steps. Little did she know that the simple choice of walking through Simonka’s front doors would be the beginning of a new life for her.
Robin grew up in a stable and loving family. Her parents were present in her life, and they never moved from the house she grew up in. She had a reliable safety net. Robin shared, “My mom and dad were always there, and they gave me the safety and security of a place to live and food to eat.” Despite this constant in her life, she didn’t feel the relationship with her parents had much significance. This led her to value other relationships—one of them being a boyfriend in high school, with whom she became pregnant at fifteen. Following this life change, she greatly struggled to make healthy life choices, especially in the face of adversity.
A few years later, her mom passed away, followed shortly by her dad’s death. With both her parents gone, Robin lost her safety net and was left to fend for herself without support or resources. As she shifted to survival mode, she spiraled down a dark path and ended up in jail. She turned to drugs to drown the shame crowding her mind. Over the following decades, the cycle of jail and living on and off the streets persisted for thirty years. Her lifestyle became dangerous, and she feared losing her life. With her life feeling so fragile, she instinctively cried out to God, even though she never knew who he was. She simply wanted something bigger than herself to save her.
Thirty years of addiction and stints in jail left her raw with shame and guilt. She didn’t know how to take hold of her life and care for herself. Robin described, “Sometimes when you're addicted and the choices that you make are not your choices, it's hard to get out of that addiction... You really need help to get out of all that shame. And it's a vicious cycle of, you know, using to forget your feelings... And so, you’re not making good choices.”
Once she settled into Simonka Place, she joined the New Life Fellowship and was introduced to God. Robin remembered being hesitant to accept God at first, “I was resistant because of my past behaviors. So, once I did get to know God, it was wonderful.” Accepting God in her life gave her a newfound sense of security, safety, and understanding of the world.
Without Simonka Place, Robin wouldn’t have experienced life anew. The New Life Fellowship program gave her the tools to overcome her addiction and resist past destructive behaviors. She has learned that through God’s grace, she is a new creation. “I'm thankful to Simonka Place because of the guidance that they gave me, and without that, I would not be here,” Robin explained. “I hope people will support Simonka Place because there are a lot of people out there homeless and addicted that need your help, just like I did.”
Now, Robin gives back to her community through her career at Simonka Place! Her trade skills in maintenance and dedication to the Mission have become a crucial part of the ministries at Union Gospel Mission of Salem and her team.
