Read about Michelle and how the help she received from a United Way funded agency helped her finally beat drugs and work toward goals she never knew she had.
Two years ago, when she was homeless in Redhead Park on the East Side, living out of a suitcase, sleeping on a bench, and quitting crystal meth cold turkey—Michelle Jackson would have been shocked to know where she'd be in a few months. An innovative program in central Iowa would open a door Michelle didn’t even know was there. It would take all of her strength to walk through that door. But once she did, she would be awed by what she found on the other side.
Growing Pains
Michelle grew up in a tumultuous Des Moines household to parents who divorced when she was 6. But that was not the end of her trauma; it was just the beginning. The spitting image of her dad, Michelle says she was the target of cruel comments from her mother, who was heartbroken and angry. Just making a face similar to her dad’s could set her mom off. “There was so much violence at home,” says Michelle. “You could feel the animosity, you could feel the tension.”
Lacking support at home, Michelle tried to find it with her peers. “Any other child finds people who do want them around,” she says. “Unfortunately, the people I found who accepted me were the most wrong crowd you can imagine.”
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