Tracy’s Story: Finding Peace

Tracy beams. In two days, she is getting married. Like a bride-to-be, she swirls as she walks, claps her hands in delight, and her endless smile stretches from ear to ear. She stoops regularly to hug and kiss her dog. She exudes joy.

Not long ago, Tracy faced a different reality. In 1990, she witnessed an event that, to this day, she won’t discuss with anyone outside of Women’s Empowerment. As a result, Tracy experienced a mental breakdown and lost her job.

"I felt so disgusted with the world," she remembers. "I came to the river to die." Tormented by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Tracy sought to numb her mind. She soon became addicted to drugs.

When the holidays would draw near, Tracy's need to deaden the pain would heighten. She was embarrassed to contact her mother; she didn't want to disappoint her. Knowing she was alone drove her deeper into her addiction.

After years of a life filled with drugs, anger, and hostility, Tracy had a turning point. She had adopted a dog, Blue, a life-long partner to keep her company on her lonesome journey. Tracy knew she had to make a change so she could care for Blue.

"Helping my dog helped me," she says.

Tracy began attending both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. She was making progress in her efforts to get clean when two police officers recommended that Tracy attend Women’s Empowerment. This was just the push that she needed.

"I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know how," she says.

Tracy enrolled in Women's Empowerment, where she worked one-on-one with a counselor who helped her identify and learn to manage her PTSD. The counselor also helped her resolve age-old baggage.

Importantly, Tracy gained support from the other women in the program, many of whom shared similar struggles. With hope rekindled, Tracy found the joy she had lost so long before.

Through her classes, Tracy regained her self-esteem as she worked with volunteers, creating a resume and developing an action plan to pursue meaningful work. As she journaled about her experiences and shared her fears among friends, she learned to trust and feel safe again. For Tracy, this meant far more to her recovery than any other program she had tried.

"A loving environment makes a huge difference," Tracy says. Indeed, she thrived in the daily routine and classroom training offered.

"Now I know there is a place I can go at any time. I know I can share and somebody will listen and encourage me unconditionally," she says.

Today, with the help of the staff and volunteers at Women's Empowerment, Tracy is clean and sober. Her fiancé, also clean and sober, has known Tracy for years. He only recently proposed, knowing that the two of them now have a healthy future ahead of them.

For the first time in many years, Tracy excitedly anticipates Thanksgiving. Through Women’s Empowerment, she will receive a turkey and all the trimmings to share with her fiancé (and maybe some for Blue, too).

Tracy continues to make goals for the future. She and her fiancé are saving money to move off the river and build a stable home. She is working through her action plan to go back to work, which includes renewing her drivers' license. Her happy dog is healthy and loved. Tracy even feels proud enough to call her mother.

"I remember feeling peace long ago, but I had forgotten," Tracy recalls. Today, she has returned to that place of peace, for which she gives credit to Women's Empowerment.

Women’s Empowerment knows that Tracy deserves all the credit.