The passing of my 2 ½ year old brother from heart failure sent everything down hill for me and my family. Blaming me and my mom for my brother's death, my dad left us on my 10th birthday. His leaving has always made me feel like I wasn’t worth it or good enough.

Shortly after, my mom met a man and little did I know that this man was going to change my life forever and my mom’s life too in the best way. When he asked me permission to marry my mom, I told him to get on it already and ask. After he proposed, they got married a year later in October. Shortly after, they announced that they were having a baby.

Before my little brother was born, my stepdad asked me if he could adopt me. I was so excited to hear that! But, I got worried about what my real dad was going to say once he found out that I changed my last name. We reached out to him through a lawyer and his response gave me my first heartbreak. I blamed him for all of my wrongdoing after that.

I was locked up for 2 years. While I was in prison, I realized I wasn’t a child anymore. I was an adult. I got into one fight while I was locked up. I was jumped by 8 women who was mistaken by who I was. After that day the women respected me and showed me that I didn’t need drugs and I stayed clean in prison. I was released two years later, after I had my son Michael. Then I relapsed, and my mom got guardianship over my son. I then met another man who helped me get clean and sober again, but eventually ran from my parole for the next 10 years. Then, I had Wayne. He was my angel from heaven. He helped me stay clean. His dad and I were having big problems in our relationship. So, I asked my mom to please come get me so I could live with my grandma.

 I had to turn myself into court. As I did that the judge told me that they’re going to run a hair follicle test to see if I was clean while being on the run for 10 years. The very next morning I was shackled up in front of the judge. He then told me to step forward to his bench. He opened the envelope and had a surprised look on his face. He said, “In all of my years being a judge I have never seen this before. Tiffiny, I’m pleased to announce that you’re clean from all drugs for 10 years and I am going expunge all of your felonies and pay all of your restitutions. Now get out of my courtroom and go home. Bailiff, take her to the jail and process her out and set her free!” 

Wayne and I soon got our first apartment together as mommy and son. But then, I met someone who was very abusive in all ways. The first day we met he put his hands on me. Since he had done that I didn’t care anymore and accepted that I was doomed to have nothing but bad relationships. So, after a year went by I lost my apartment. I was then homeless. I asked my mom to please come and take care of my son until I can get us a place to live again. 

I went to Roy’s Resource Center in Palm Springs. I stayed there for 3 months. In that 3-month period I met a wonderful person whom I am still with to this day. Despite our time on the streets, he always made me feel safe. He and I now have a son together named Dominick. However, I had relapsed with no one knowing until I told them at the hospital. C.P.S. was involved and told me that I had to choose between going into a program or losing our son. So, I chose the program. That’s how I ended up in Mama’s House. 

Since being at Mama’s House, I have learned a great deal about Jesus Christ. I was baptized as a Christian when I was 13 years old but since then, I had grown out of faith with God. Thankfully, Diane pulled me back into faith. She has helped me on getting back to know God and Jesus again. Every day, I find that I am even encouraged by the women and staff around me to have confidence in myself, to be open in growing, and to embrace motherhood despite my fears or sense of failures. I learn to push through, hang on, and pray to God. My son’s dad has also joined the Father’s program at the Hope Center and is doing Earn and Learn parenting classes just like how I am doing it too, inside Mama’s House. This makes me feel good that things are slowly coming together. I feel like we are a family. He, Dominick, and I are also doing family therapy together too, and it’s really helping us to work together on our communication skills.

A short four months in the program, I was able to address my old eviction, and was eligible for a reversal of that eviction with my previous landlord. One of the hardest things I have experienced was to walk through my old apartment and look back on how I was living. I really thought I was living a normal life. But, in all reality, I was in denial. It was a mess. I was living in filth. I was very embarrassed to have Diane and Christina go in and look at it, for them to see truly how I had lived prior coming into Mama’s House.

I know now that I am not going to be living in that environment ever again. I want everything to be clean and to have a healthy environment for myself and my family.

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