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88 cents out of every dollar supports community services for people in need.
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Shawna MacDonald
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Shawna grew up in a home with an addicted father and stepfather, began drinking at age 11 and was out of the house at age 14. It was normal for her to drink with adults when she was 12 and to use percocet, vicodin, and other prescription drugs. At 19 she started using heroin and became homeless. After six years on the street she went to a methadone clinic to get clean. It didn’t work. “I didn’t want to really stop shooting, so I went back to what I was doing before.” One day she decided to stop, went to detox, and it was different. “I got the same help I always got, but this time I was ready to change my life.” | | |
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When Shawna went to the Volunteers of America’s Hello House Residential Recovery Program for Women, she was afraid of everything, including herself. She had to learn how to get up in the morning, make her bed, brush her teeth, take a shower, and be responsible. “At Hello House they taught me how to live. It was like I was a puppy going to dog school and learning to do things I had never learned before.” she says. |
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Shawna now lives at the Volunteers of America Shiloh House. She works at Champs Sports, where she moved through the ranks to become the Store Manager. Shawna tried every other way, but the Volunteers of America program was the only one that worked. “They showed me how to live, and the staff really cared about me. Where I came from, on the street, no one cared about me. I’m working 60 hours a week, saving to get my own apartment, and my store is doing great.” |
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