From Surviving to Thriving

Long before Delina came to House of Refuge Sunnyslope, her life was about survival.

She grew up surrounded by generational addiction, instability, violence, and tremendous loss. From a very young age, circumstances that should never feel normal to a child became part of her everyday life. She learned how to survive before she ever learned what it meant to feel safe.

As Delina grew older, she began walking in many of the same patterns she had grown up around. She started using drugs at a young age, and addiction became part of her own story. There were broken relationships, devastating losses, incarceration, and years of trying simply to make it from one day to the next.

She lost people she loved. She lost stability. She lost time with her children. Eventually, Delina reached a place where she was tired of running. When she returned to prison in 2022, something began to change. This time, Delina knew she needed help and she knew that if her life was ever truly going to be different, God needed to be at the center of it.

She began participating in programs, Bible studies, and church. Instead of continuing to run from the hurt underneath her addiction, she began seeking healing and learning what it meant to build her life on a true foundation with Christ. When Delina was released in 2024, she believed she was ready for a new beginning.

Then life hit her again. After the death of someone very important to her, Delina relapsed. For approximately six months, she returned to the streets and to using drugs.

But something was different this time. She knew where that road led.

At one of her lowest moments, Delina remembers falling to her knees and crying out to God to save her. And that became another turning point.

Delina realized that wanting a different life wasn't enough. She needed structure. She needed accountability. She needed community. And most importantly, she needed to continue building her relationship with Christ.

Eventually, God opened the door to House of Refuge Sunnyslope.

Delina initially didn't expect to stay long. But what she found was a safe place where she could continue the healing that had already begun.  A place with the structure and accountability she knew she needed, while still allowing her to work, grow, rebuild relationships, and prepare for independence.

Slowly, the pieces of Delina’s life began coming back together.

She maintained her employment. She obtained her driver's license and insurance. She got a car. Relationships with her family began to be restored. She continued working through her healing and strengthening her relationship with Christ.

And now, Delina has graduated from House of Refuge Sunnyslope and has moved into an apartment of her own.

To someone else, those things might sound ordinary. For Delina, they represent restoration. For much of her life, Delina was surviving.

Today, she is thriving!

She also believes that everything she has walked through can now be used for something greater. Her past does not have to define her future. Delina has a heart to serve others, give back to her community, and someday use her own experiences to help someone else believe that their story isn't over.

House of Refuge Sunnyslope didn't erase Delina’s past. It gave her a safe place to keep moving forward from it, with structure, community, accountability, and Christ at the center.

Today, Delina has hope for her future. She doesn't know exactly what every next step will look like or which doors God will open. But she trusts Him.

And after everything God has already brought her through, Delina believes He isn't finished with her yet.