Tara’s loss led to a new start
Tara Overcomes Heartache to Make a New Start
“Sometimes I think I’m out here in Denver all by myself for a reason,” says Tara. “I didn’t know who I was before I came here.”
In those earlier days, Tara was married to a man she loved and who loved her, but he was gripped by a drug addiction that, at times, made him violent and abusive. To keep up with him, Tara slid into drug use herself. They both tried to make a new start by moving to her husband’s hometown of Denver, but their hope ended abruptly when, at age 42, her husband died without warning from a heart ailment likely caused by years of previous drug use.
Tara was not only grieving, now she was alone, homeless, and in a desperate downward spiral. While she had managed to get off drugs, she found herself existing day to day in a homeless shelter with nothing but a cot and a tote to her name.
At the shelter, Tara says she struggled through sleepless nights and the worry of constantly protecting herself from the disturbing amount of random thefts and the drug use going on around her. When a caseworker suggested she apply to the Julia Greeley Home, “That was the new start I needed,” Tara says. Despite her life’s turmoil, Tara had a good job history that proved she had the motivation to succeed. Within a week or two of joining JGH, Tara found an excellent job as a shift leader in a well-known restaurant chain. Surrounded by peaceful and safe living conditions and the kind of spiritual support she had growing up, Tara began to thrive. Today, just a few months after joining us, Tara is finally sleeping well, is calm and happy, and eating nourishing food.
She is also re-focusing her goals. One opportunity she is considering is whether to apply for a scholarship in culinary arts through JGH’s partnership with The Ward Family Foundation of Alexandria VA.
Another goal is even more far reaching: Tara says she is rediscovering “who I am again,” and drawing from her growing-up years in a loving, church-going family: “I want to get back to serving the Lord, and to changing my entire life.”