As we near the end of 2022, the Neighborhood Christian Center staff and board of directors want to thank you for being a part of supporting this wonderful community and being the hands and feet of Jesus to our neighbors. This year has been one of the best years yet! Our Education and Discipleship ministry is flourishing, children and youth programs are thriving, and our Neighbors Day is meeting not only physical needs but also spiritual needs. We are very excited to share a story from two perspectives, one from a woman who was in our classes at the Morgan County Jail and lived in the Ruth House (transitional home for women) and one from a woman who is a NCC volunteer turned mentor. Here is their story…
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Meet Danielle.
“I grew up in a single parent home where drugs and alcohol were normal. We didn’t attend church. I became a very angry teenager and started using drugs and drinking alcohol. By the time I was 14, I was experimenting with ecstasy, cocaine, skipping school and staying in trouble. My first arrest came in 8th grade for selling marijuana. My drug addiction became very serious when I was 19 years old. This went on for years. I hit rock bottom at the age of 30. I had felony warrants in 3 different counties as well as 5 or 6 city warrants. In 2015, I was arrested in Morgan County and honestly felt a huge sense of relief when I was arrested. I didn’t have to run anymore. I didn’t know God, but I knew he was real. I always thought God wasn’t for me because I was addicted to drugs. As I was sitting in jail, I kept seeing other inmates go to classes. I asked what was going on and how I could get involved. Once I started attending the classes the NCC provided, I felt this shift start to happen in my heart. I was learning everything I was taught as a child was wrong. Life didn’t have to be the way it was. Drugs and alcohol were not normal within the family. Not all parents are divorced. Through the classes, I found out that God loved me even though I was a drug addict. I began to hunger for God's Word. I wanted to know everything about Him. I formed so many bonds with all the instructors that came inside the jail to teach the classes. I had never experienced unconditional love before I met these incredible women. I decided I wanted to go to the NCC’s Transitional Home, the Ruth House. I felt like my life depended on it. I knew if I got out and had only the same people and places to fall back on, I would be doomed and back on drugs. So, I worked hard to show Mrs. Pamela and Judge Thompson that if given the chance, I wouldn’t let them down. I completed 33 classes including getting my GED before I was released after 14 months being incarcerated. My relationship with God was very strong. I had never felt anything like it before. As long as I had Him, I could get through anything. While incarcerated, I met my mentor and second mother Charlene Bruggeman. Charlene and her husband Bud have become my Godly parents I never had. They are also grandparents to my 12 year old daughter Kindra. While at the Ruth House, our relationship grew beyond anything I could have imagined. I graduated from the Ruth House in 2018 and moved into my first apartment. I continued to stay connected to everyone. I was able to get my 3 felonies dismissed by completing Drug Court and graduating from the NCC Transitional Home program. I was blessed in 2019 with a wonderful Job at iWebVisit.com where I was hired because of my knowledge of drugs. My past wasn’t held against me, it was used for my benefit. I help jails across the country monitor inmate visits for drug activity as well as assisting with customer service. I met my now husband at Soul Stock in 2018. We got married in 2021 and bought our first house. My relationship with my mother and daughter have been restored. If God hadn’t put the NCC in my path, I know my life wouldn’t have turned out the way it has. I thank God for their hearts to help people like me.”
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Meet Charlene.
“After leaving my job in Huntsville and started work for the City of Decatur, it meant I had some extra time since I didn’t have to commute to work anymore. This opened up the opportunity to volunteer at the NCC (something I had wanted to do for a long time). But that was not the only gift that God gave me…he extended my family! In 2015 my husband and I decided to adopt a little girl name Kindra for Christmas. We started praying for her, her father and her lost mother. Then God decided I needed to meet this little girl’s mom. I began going to the Morgan County Jail with the NCC to reach out to women who needed love and mentoring. After meeting the inmates in class, one young woman said to me ‘I know who you are!’ That was a surprise because I had no idea who she was…. it was Kindra’s mom Danielle. She told me all about what we had done for her daughter and how it made her little girl so very happy. But what really tugged at my heart was that Danielle gave me her most prized possession, a picture of Kindra. She kept it in her Bible and even though it was so important to her, she wanted me to have it. Then and there we connected. I knew she was a very special woman that needed love, direction, and a chance. After being released from jail, Danielle entered the NCC Ruth House, a transitional home for women. We continued our friendship which grew even more when I started driving her every other Saturday to Arab to visit her daughter who is living with her aunt and uncle. We would also meet on a regular basis and talk about everything, but most importantly, her relationship with Jesus. Our mentor/mentee friendship didn’t stop after she graduated from the Ruth House in fact, it blossomed into a deeper connection and Danielle and Kindra became part of our family. Danielle never had parents who guided her or gave her solid direction; she was mostly on her own or at the hand of those who used and abused her. Danielle knew there was better way to live her life. When she accepted Jesus Christ into her heart, she wanted to change, and she did. The old Danielle was put away for good. The new creation Danielle is very bright, she listened to wise counsel, completed her GED, got a good job, cleaned houses, babysat dogs, or whatever it took to pay her obligations, pay her child support and start a new life for her and Kindra. This was not always easy for her. As you know, everyday life can throw out roadblocks quickly! She had several roadblocks that could have steered her off course including not getting custody of her daughter and then her father passed away. And even though she felt like ‘would life ever get better’ she did not let this defeat her. These issues would have been enough for a strong person to quit, but Danielle had Someone very important in her life (not me). She had Jesus Christ in her life and had NCC and their great mentors who helped along the way. She never gave up and it is such a strong witness to never give up even when life got tough. Today Danielle is married, has a very good job, cleans homes on the side, purchased a home, and sees Kindra every other weekend and most holidays. Most importantly, Danielle is still walking with the Lord and growing stronger in her faith every day. What a great gift from God to be a part of someone’s life that has come from the depths of hurt and despair; to having a Christ centered marriage, family, home, employment and of course two lively cute dogs.” |
THE RUTH HOUSE - Transitional Home for Women
The Neighborhood Christian Center’s Transitional Home for Women is a Christian based transitional home that provides a temporary transitional bridge for women who desire a sober and supportive environment to help continue long term sobriety. The women who reside in the home agree to live a clean and sober life outside of recovery centers and remain active in their new life program. The Center’s Transitional Home provides short term support services that address the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of life. Residents are required to attend mandatory classes and are assigned a mentor. They will work towards finding and maintaining employment under the leadership of the Center’s Workforce Development Team. They learn how to maintain a workable budget, acquire domestic skills and achieve goals of self-sufficiency.
Life Skills Enhancement that will be focused on in this Program:
Addiction – continuing education regarding relapse prevention; setting goals to continue long-term sobriety
Employment – maintaining steady employment that will meet immediate and long-term financial goals
Relationships – continuing education focusing on healthy parenting, dating, marriage, and co-worker relationships
Education – exploring avenues of future education to improve success in being self-sufficient
Short and Long-term Goals – learning to set goals to meet immediate and future needs
THE NEHEMIAH HOUSE
The Neighborhood Christian Center’s Leadership Home is located in one of the neighborhoods we serve. It is the first house of our Transitional Home ministry. We have hosted many activities at the Leadership Home including Backyard Bible Club, women’s Bible studies, middle school girls program, and back-to-school block parties. Our desire is to raise up leaders in the neighborhood we serve, so that they will be equipped to take on positive leadership roles in their community. Bethany Eze and her three children reside in this home. They are a light in the neighborhood and take very good care of the home.
THE TIMOTHY HOUSE
This house has served many purposes. It has housed families, women who moved from the Transitional Home, and some people who just needed a short term transition back into the community.
We are always very prayerful of who lives in our 3 homes because we want to be good stewards of what God has given the NCC to use for His glory.
The Neighborhood Christian Center’s Transitional Home for Women is a Christian based transitional home that provides a temporary transitional bridge for women who desire a sober and supportive environment to help continue long term sobriety. The women who reside in the home agree to live a clean and sober life outside of recovery centers and remain active in their new life program. The Center’s Transitional Home provides short term support services that address the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of life. Residents are required to attend mandatory classes and are assigned a mentor. They will work towards finding and maintaining employment under the leadership of the Center’s Workforce Development Team. They learn how to maintain a workable budget, acquire domestic skills and achieve goals of self-sufficiency.
Life Skills Enhancement that will be focused on in this Program:
Addiction – continuing education regarding relapse prevention; setting goals to continue long-term sobriety
Employment – maintaining steady employment that will meet immediate and long-term financial goals
Relationships – continuing education focusing on healthy parenting, dating, marriage, and co-worker relationships
Education – exploring avenues of future education to improve success in being self-sufficient
Short and Long-term Goals – learning to set goals to meet immediate and future needs
THE NEHEMIAH HOUSE
The Neighborhood Christian Center’s Leadership Home is located in one of the neighborhoods we serve. It is the first house of our Transitional Home ministry. We have hosted many activities at the Leadership Home including Backyard Bible Club, women’s Bible studies, middle school girls program, and back-to-school block parties. Our desire is to raise up leaders in the neighborhood we serve, so that they will be equipped to take on positive leadership roles in their community. Bethany Eze and her three children reside in this home. They are a light in the neighborhood and take very good care of the home.
THE TIMOTHY HOUSE
This house has served many purposes. It has housed families, women who moved from the Transitional Home, and some people who just needed a short term transition back into the community.
We are always very prayerful of who lives in our 3 homes because we want to be good stewards of what God has given the NCC to use for His glory.
Charlene and Danielle’s story is just one of many that depend on God’s grace, forgiveness, and guidance for His sheep. The Neighborhood Christian Center continues to be faithful in our mission of serving our neighbors in need with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and provide hope and healing through education and discipleship. And we can’t continue to serve our neighbors without YOU! Please consider giving a gift by donating to the NCC and support all our ministries that point to Jesus. YOU are an integral part in spreading the Gospel in our community. YOUR generosity will further the work the NCC continues to do for the Kingdom.
