Vanessa

WHY ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE SO HAPPY?

Vanessa Estrada dug herself into a deep addictive hole. She’d lost her first apartment, her job, her car, and while in jail was sentenced to a program that gave her three rehab options, but because The Bridge was the closest, she chose it, that is until Pastor Mike told her that it was a year-long program. She called her Mother to tell her she wasn’t going to do it, however her Mother told her she and her Dad were praying for her go to The Bridge. “God had other plans. I was picked up the next morning to go The Bridge,” Vanessa said.

Recalling how she felt when she first entered The Bridge Vanessa says, “I still had a hardened heart. I was in a bad spot filled with shame and embarrassment.” Also, The Bridge was very different from a previous rehab she’d been to. There, residents didn’t cook or clean up for themselves. It wasn’t a faith-based or working program. For Vanessa, The Bridge was, “Whoa, this is a little much to handle. Why are all these people so nice and smiley and welcoming and I’m not feeling that way. I’m feeling pretty bad inside so why are these people so happy?”

Three months later Vanessa knew that those around her were “really genuine people sharing their lives with me, sharing the Lord, what the Lord had gotten them through. And they were being honest. They weren’t telling me, ‘Oh life is just great, it’s just sunshine and flowers.’ They were sharing with me the deep deep struggles they were going through, but with the joy and peace in their hearts that Jesus has gotten them through this and continues to do so. The Lord worked in their lives.” That was when Vanessa said, “Okay, I want this, too. That’s when I gave my life to the Lord and was willing to have a change of heart and a real desire to get to know God and learn everything I could about Him. I’m still learning each day.”

Having graduated in May, Mike and Michele asked her to stay as a house manager and Vanessa is ready to take on that leadership role as well as working full time since she began the Worker’s Phase at the Second Chance stores as customer relations/administration support.

Vanessa wants to encourage others to come to The Bridge knowing that some might have the same feelings she had but that the people she’s met and experienced mean a lot to her. “They are genuine people who sincerely want to help and encourage you. They want to see you succeed and ask for help.”