Services and Programs - Changing Lives

Help Make It the Best Christmas Ever for People Like Lydia!

When Lydia was divorced at 29, she thought she was 18 again. “Having gotten married and having three children so young,” she says, “I believed I’d missed out on a lot. I started drinking and using drugs. They consumed me.” As a result, she couldn’t care for her children and sent them to live with their father.

Then she met a man who loved alcohol as much as she did. Over the next 17 years, Lydia became dependent on him financially and emotionally. After they had a son together, the relationship turned abusive. “It seemed like monthly, my bags were being thrown out onto the front lawn.” She tried several rehabilitation programs, but nothing worked because she still lived in the alcoholic and abusive environment of her boyfriend’s home. But, she wanted to stay with her son and knew she couldn’t support both of them on her own. She prayed to God for help.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, Lydia met a woman who earned her trust and told her about Bridgeport Rescue Mission. The woman even offered to help watch over Lydia’s young son while she went through the program.


We welcomed Lydia into the Mission’s New Life Discipleship Program and provided vocational training and education in budgeting, money management and other life skills to help end the cycle of community dependency. And through Christian guidance, counseling and encouragement, Lydia traded her dependency on alcohol for reliance on the Lord.


She feels blessed God is also restoring her relationship with her older children who live with their father. “Their love was never gone, but their trust was. They had their hopes up I would change so many times. I’d broken so many promises.” She prays her 11-year-old son will live with her when she moves out on her own, but says that’s in God’s hands, too.

The holidays will have an even deeper meaning for Lydia this year—with her newfound sobriety and relationship with God, and the renewed respect of her family. She’s also looking forward to the festivities we have planned here at the Mission—a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, along with gifts for all of our residents.



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