On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, Shalonda Crawford of Open Door Recovery House gave us an heartfelt talk about Open Door. Not only does she now work for Open Door, she is a successful former resident. At the end she also encouraged us to support their upcoming 5K CommUnity Fun Run fundraiser. See www.opendoorrecovery.net.
Shalonda told us some of her life story, about her upbringing and the different sides of her families, the church-going side and the party side. Many in Marble Falls know her grandmother Bessie Jackson, who is active with St. Frederick’s Baptist Church. .
A native of Marble Falls, Shalonda grew up knowing she had her community around her. After experiencing a death in her family and her parents’ divorce, Shalonda turned to therapy, but also to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate at that time. Shalonda described how she was married at 18, had her first child at 19, then was diagnosed with Lupus. She began to experience bouts of depression. She was put on a variety of medication’s and antidepressants. Then her uncle, a father figure and light of her life, also passed away. Then another uncle passed away. In the span of one year she had seven family members pass away! Although she had hoped for a return to her former, normal life, that never happened.
So on top of the depression, she also had Lupus, and eventually she was referred to “pain management.“ There she was given opioids and could use the excuse of “the doctor gave it to me” to shake off any concerns about using them. Not realizing the path she was on, the prescribed drugs combined with the depression sent her into a further spiral of drug addiction. By the time CPS caught up with her, she was on a lot of different drugs! She began to think that broken-hearted despair and hopelessness was going to be her portion in life.
But after CPS intervention, she went to a rehab facility in Temple. She was pregnant again so that meant she really had to make a change. Not only were her other two kids looking up to her, there was an unborn life in the balance. She is so grateful today that she had the opportunity to go to Open Door Recovery House after rehab to regroup and reset her life.
One of the goals of the Open Door Recovery House is to provide an affordable recovery program where women can live for free in a safe, drug free environment, while learning life skills and working their way back into society.
Shalonda described how Open Door provided the support, hope, and love of Christ that she experienced there. She talked about how all of the women at Open Door need our support and our love. She explained that the program of restructuring the women’s lives is especially important at Open Door. Shalonda says “You need someone to tell you that you are worth living a different lifestyle. You are worth a change of life, not being on drugs, not being depressed, and ultimately loving yourself enough to choose the right people to have in your life - people that will love you, encourage you, and give you hope. During her time at Open Door, not only was Shalonda doing well and succeeding, but her family was also being restored. She expressed the love she felt when her family began trusting her again.
Shalonda said she owes a lot to Open Door Recovery House and that’s why she works for them. She loves that she can give back and say to the women who are now at Open Door: “Here, hold my hand and we will work on this together. We are all the hands and feet of Jesus.
“If no one is going to care for these ladies, if nobody is going to give to these ladies, then it will affect our entire community. There will be a ripple effect. Drug addiction is a plague, but we can fight it together!”
"First we need your prayers and love.
Second we need your help with our upcoming 5K CommUnity Fun Run fundraiser.
Spread love and hope. Even if it’s just by saying to one of our women “you’re worth it“.
Even if it’s just an encouraging wave at the grocery store, it all matters, all of that matters."
She then encouraged our support of the upcoming Open Door CommUnity 5K Fun Run to be held on Saturday April 30th, 2022 at 8 AM, registration starts at 7 AM.
For this 5K Run, Open Door Recovery House is looking for Sponsors, Runners, and is having a Team Challenge! The 5K Run/Walk takes place on the Manzano Mile, the road just east of Marble Falls High School. The gentle rolling hills and smooth pavement provide an ideal place to run or walk! Traffic on the road will be limited, as it is used primarily for school access is and will be coned off.
Shalonda’s Video will be posted here as soon as available.
