Perhaps the nice townhouse and the BMW and almost 5 years of “clean” living did not provide a heavy enough anchor to keep Jennifer Hillyer from drifting back into a life of drug abuse. Maybe, like most of us, she didn't realize her need for God until the need became very apparent. At any rate, her relapse resulted in the loss of everything, including that which was most precious to her — her children.

Jennifer, her kids and the father of her 3-year-old son, Nicholas, were forced to relocate from motel to motel until June of 2002, when Jennifer's name came up on the waiting list for the Strong Beginnings Program at the Orange County Mission. However, her errant lifestyle and an outstanding DUI warrant for her boyfriend's arrest combined to delay the help she was about to receive. They were both arrested for possession of narcotics, and her two children, Brittini and Nicholas, were removed from her custody.

However, having made a connection with OCRM's Senior Chaplain Ray Green, Jennifer's journey down the road to recovery had begun — except for one thing. Success in life cannot really be had unless God is in control, and Jennifer wasn't about to relinquish control of herself to anyone else. She recalls,

“I didn't have enough common sense to surrender anything to anyone. I was running straight on self will, and that's all I knew at the time. But Ray stuck it out with me.”

Jennifer lived a divided life for the next 6 months. One foot was stuck in a rut of self-will, and the other was trying desperately to move forward. It was in a Las Vegas hotel room in the middle of the night, on March 23, 2003, when she finally woke up and realized “God wants me to go home. I need to go home and face my demons. I can't keep running.” She rededicated her life to Jesus and started working with Ray to reconstruct her life.

Through the Rescue Mission, Jennifer received food, clothing, counseling and even repair work for her van. She was able to locate her daughter, Brittini (then a runaway in Dallas), and obtain legal aid to regain custody of her. She now also has joint custody of Nicholas. For a mother who wondered if she would ever see her children again, these were dramatic miracles.

When Ray first started working with Jennifer, he helped her to write down goals. When Jennifer became discouraged that she wasn't making any progress, he pulled out the list and showed her how different things were just a year and a half ago. Jennifer is now greatly encouraged by the changes that have transpired both in her family life and in her relationship with God.

In January, Jennifer plans to join the REstart program, a collaborative effort between OCRM and the Orange County Institute of Real Estate Managers to help homeless or disadvantaged men and women obtain marketable careers in real estate management through training, mentoring, and job placement assistance. Her outlook toward the future is improving daily and she is especially grateful to OCRM. Jennifer says,

“Having people that have faith in me, it makes a big difference!”