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 For five years, Betty was proud to be clean and sober. But then she relapsed
and didn't know how to get back on track. After losing her job and hurting her
relationship within her family, she knew she had to figure it out quickly. "I
said, 'Jesus if don't come to get me, I won't make it this time.'
"I didn't want to be hopeless and helpless anymore. [I] found out about Carriage
Town, and when I called I was told to 'come on in.' I cried when I heard that."
Because of your provision, Betty found so much more than just a meal and a bed at the
Mission. "It was beautiful, beyond clean. It was not a 'shelter'; it was more like walking
int a home." Now, as a part of the Transitional Living Program, Betty has access to the help
she needs to rebuild her life.
"The staff are wonderful leaders." she says. "They provide wonderful guidance in a beautiful,
clean environment. There's structure here, order, support...things that God is all about." In
addition to that emotional and spiritual support, the gifts you provide have given Betty a whole new
outlook on life. While working towards her GED, Betty has decided that she does not want to return
to her old job, but follow a new passion. "With the changes in me, I would like to consider being
a foster parent. The children here look for me, calling out, 'Where's Miss Betty?'"
Betty's famliy can see the positive changes too. "They are very supportive of me being here... They
are very appreciative of the Mission, because they've never seen me walking hand in hand with Christ.
"The women at Carriage Town are strong, supportive and honest, and have helped me more than anyone else.
I would tell any woman, if they needed structure, or to learn how to incorporate Christ into their life,
this is the place to go."
Women like Betty are experiencing these powerful changes every day at the Mission, and it just wouldn't
be possible without friends like you. Thank you for your ongoing support!
It was Christmas Day, and Lance was in jail for possession of drugs. And to make
matters worse, the only gift Lance would be receiving that year was divorce papers
from his wife.
For years, he had told countless lies to keep his family from knowing the full extent
of his addiction, but now everything was exposed. Lance's marriage was over, and he could
no longer see his young daughter.
The problem of pain.
It all started with a routine doctor's appointment. Like many people, Lance suffered from
back pain and sought treatment for it. The doctor prescribed pain medication. The pill worked
at first, but soon Lance built up a tolerance to the drug. He moved on to stronger painkillers
he bought on the street, and it wasn't long before someone offered him drugs that were cheaper,
more powerful, and more addictive than anything he had tried before.
Crack and heroin led to Lance's incarceration and divorce, and after a couple of years he admitted
to himself that he couldn't control his drug abuse. He checked in to several different rehab programs,
but he never stayed long. "I'd leave rehab early because I didn't feel they were helping me," he
explains. "I felt I wasn't cared for."
"I'm doing it for me and for God!"
Eventually, Lance's mother brought him to Carriage Town, and he was received with open arms. "It was
way more than I expected. I was unsure whether I wanted to go forward because I had failed so many times
before." As a friend of the Mission, you know that the New Horizons program is different than so many others.
"None of the other programs focused on God. Here, I don't feel I'm alone in this process of change. I'm doing
it for me and for God."
Lance knows that if he had remained on the street, he would be back in jail instead of involved in the programs
you help support. Here at the Mission, he is learning how to live a clean, healthy lifestyle - - and how to maintain
it when he leaves. And the key to making that change permanent is his faith that God has plans for his life.
To you, Lance wants to say, "I can't thank you enough for what you're doing, because you're saving lives. Without
the Mission, I don't think that I'd be around." Thank you for your compassion
 Imagine living in a cave you’ve dug out of the snow with your bare hands . . . in the middle of a bitter Michigan February.
Blake spent his winter that way when he was only 17. Not because he was stranded in a blizzard, but because his parents kicked him out to fend for himself on his 17th birthday—even though he’s legally blind. For more than three months, “home” was a snowbank under the Flushing Road bridge.
I don’t know what might have happened to Blake if friends like you hadn’t given him warmth and safety at Carriage Town Ministries. “Once I found the Mission,” he says, “it was great to get a warm meal and to be able to shower regularly. But the biggest blessing I received here was introducing me to Jesus Christ.”
Instead of becoming a victim of street violence or freezing to death in the cold, today Blake lives in a secure, supportive place—he hasn’t been homeless in more than three years. He attends church and Bible studies regularly, and he even comes back sometimes to volunteer at the Mission!
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