“I have spent my entire life in services. I came from the foster care system and my children have also been in the system. I have been in church, in therapy, in AA and recovery groups. Through all this, I have been able to maintain years of sobriety, but I have never been able to stop the feeling of wanting to crawl out of my own skin. The feeling of deep despair and helplessness. The feeling of being alone.” – Charis

“I started the same patterns in my own life,” Emma explained. “I would seek out and start building close relationships and then if the person pointed out something simple like, not cleaning up after myself or voiced a different opinion than mine. I would get so angry, like explosively angry. I would yell and throw things and storm off for hours or days at a time. I had no idea what was going on with me or how to change it. I knew deep down I was just like my mom and that I'd probably always be that way.”

In this beautiful reflection, Sara explains how 10 years at NAOMI have shaped her.

I had spent over a decade working with families before joining an organization where my Creator would call me to learn how to love women deeply and show me my desperate need to be loved. When I began my journey at NAOMI our only child (a son) was three years old.  During the next 10 years while serving at NAOMI I carried and gave birth to three little girls. Staying in a commitment to journey with other women who are healing while learning how to heal in my own life was never part of my plan. Learning how to raise three women in my own family while doing so often seems impossible.