Hello, my name is Amy and I am 26 years old. I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with my two sisters and my mom. My dad was incarcerated for most of my childhood, and I didn't end up meeting him until I was 17 years old. I did not grow up in a home that practiced any sort of religion, but I remember my grandma talking about God. She considered herself a Christian and that was about my only consistent experience and exposure to God that I can recall. My mom would bring us to church occasionally for holidays, but nothing was ever explained to me. As a kid I really enjoyed school and excelled until I hit middle school. That's when I was introduced to marijuana and started drinking alcohol.
Hello, my name is Andrea, and I am 43 years old. I’m grew up in Rockland, WI. My biological father was killed in a motorcycle accident just weeks after I was born. About a year following the accident my mom met the man I’ve called “dad” my entire life. My mom loved my sisters and I very much and did everything in her power to make sure our physical needs were met, however due to my parents love for partying, a lot of our emotional needs were unmet. My sister’s and I attended bible camp and church as kids, but once I was confirmed, we sort of stopped going altogether. I do however have two specific memories of asking Jesus into my heart during two different stints at bible camp. I can look back on my life now and see He was with me all along.
Home as a child was a very safe and stable environment for me. I grew up with two older sisters and two amazing parents. I looked up to my sisters a lot and loved hanging out with them. However, being the youngest I vividly remember my sisters and their friends not wanting to hang out with me because I was the youngest. On top of that my father wasn’t really one to show emotion, and as a child I craved that emotional attention. Both of these things caused me to feel very lonely and unwanted.
I can remember being depressed all my life, from a young age, maybe 7 or 8. My weight and hygiene were affected by this depression, and because I was bullied in school about it, those things got even worse. I started smoking cigarettes to fit in when I was 12. Then at about 15 I discovered alcohol and marijuana. As my partying got worse, so did my grades, I barely graduated high school. Then I moved out on my own and of course partied harder and harder.
Hello! My name is Grace, and I am 45 years old. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. I come from several generations of substance abuse and chronic mental illness. It has been a sore subject for both sides of my family. Due to thick pride, we never really talked about all the issues, but rather swept them under the rug. I believe that due to the generational depression and anxiety we have endured, our main coping mechanism became drugs and alcohol to numb out the pain.