Cierra

Cierra and her brother were raised by their father. They rarely saw their mother. She graduated from high school but at eighteen got pregnant and had a daughter. In 2013, she started school to become a medical assistant, but left and got a job at a Walmart pharmacy where she stayed for two years. Life was good until she got back with an old boyfriend. “That’s when things went downhill. It was really, really horrible and I left him and went to stay with my family, but it was a struggle day after day. I wasn’t getting enough hours at work, trying to pay my car note, and my family treated me disrespectfully. It was like a ticking time bomb.” When they kicked her out, she turned to The Union Mission. “Coming to the Mission is the best thing that ever happened to me. Everybody has been so supportive. I‘m going through the hardest time in my life, but they lift me up and pray for me!”

In May, Cierra and Aaleyah moved into their own apartment, and today she has a good paying job, but it’s bittersweet. “My brother was killed while I was here and he was the only one I was close to. He’d be with me if he was still alive, so I’m doing this for him too. Being at the Mission has made me stronger. Now I let God handle everything and my brother is in His hands.”