Five years ago Lynsie had a good life. She had a great home, a good job, a car, and two beautiful sons. That was all about to change though. Her new boyfriend was a meth user. It didn’t take long for Lynsie to be talked into trying it. What started as occasional use turned into everyday. “Once we began using more heavily, he became very abusive… holding guns to my head.”
Soon, Lynsie lost her job, her car, and her home. She started distancing herself from her family and friends. Then a huge blow, she lost custody of her two boys. “I chose the drug over them.” As if it couldn’t get worse, in 2016 her dad died in a plane crash. It was too much. She had lost hope and life was spiraling out of control. After a failed suicide attempt, she knew she needed help. Lynsie entered treatment, decided to be baptized, and shortly afterwards found out she was five months pregnant. She got clean, completed the program, but then went back to the abusive home she had just left. “Not the wisest idea.” She had her daughter and shortly afterwards the abuse began again.
“I knew that was not the life I wanted for her.” That’s when Lynsie reached out to someone she knew in Missoula. This person had a connection with UGMM’s Grace House. In September 2018, Lynsie entered the program at the Women and Children’s Center (Grace House). “Since I have been here, I have celebrated one year of sobriety. I recently got a job back into teaching, a career I thought I had lost forever and I am rebuilding relationships with my family and my boys. They (UGMM) taught me it’s okay to ask for help.” Lynsie’s hope for a life that she thought was gone has been restored!