PREPARING HER WHOLE LIFE

Class volunteer teacher says life experience helps her relate to women in recovery

preparing me for this my whole life.”

Her reluctance had nothing to do with the subject matter or the students – it was facing her own wounds from her relationships with substance abusers.

• As a child, one of her first memories came at 5, when she remembers not liking how she felt when she saw adults drinking excessively. “I didn’t realize at the time that’s what it was, but I remember I didn’t like what I saw.”

• In her teens, she faced a family member on drugs. “I was severely embarrassed,” she said.

• Then, as an adult, she faced personal pain with older and younger generations in her family, as they dealt with addiction.

“I’m only here (at Lifeline) because God has been training me for this my whole life. I understand what these women and their families are going through.”

There’s a key difference in her class from her other Bible classes. “In my other Bible classes, people are hungry for the Word. Now I’m teaching people who are hungry for love. They need my love.”

She teaches the book, “Walk of Repentance,” during the first 12 weeks of the long-term treatment. That’s a critical time for the women, when they are in their deepest pain usually following incarceration or the loss of custody or jobs. “Those women don’t understand how I can love them, but I love them. And if one relapses, I love them twice as much,” she said.

Susan Bredniak, 65, of Paducah, has taught Bible classes to adults and children most of her life. However, almost two years ago, when one of Lifeline Recovery Center’s founders, Terrye Peeler, a fellow church member, asked Susan to teach at Lifeline, her reaction was swift.

“No,” she said. “I can’t.”

Two months later, Terrye persisted with another request. This time, Susan agreed to visit the class. She didn’t say a word, but she went back for another visit.

“That’s when it hit me,” Susan said, “God has been

Susan encourages the families, too. “They are wounded, too. If you don’t take care of yourselves, you can’t help your loved one.”

Susan and husband Ed have been financial supporters of Lifeline, having heard about it at an out-of-state rehab facility. Then also heard about it at their church, Faith Center, and in the community. She didn’t understand its reputation until she joined on as a volunteer teacher. “The staff at the women’s campus blows my mind – how loving, supportive and attentive they are. The love for these women is the success,” she said.

2022 Graduate Says Sense Of Belonging Helped Her Out Of Addiction

Nine months in jail was the jolt Jodeci Willie, 24, needed to change her life.

“I was just lost. I was tired of being homeless and walking the streets,” she said. “I was ready to be reunited with my family.”

Jodeci, a Mayfield native, had moved out of her mother’s home at 18. “I started partying and using meth and just became hooked,” she said. She was in active addiction for five years and lost her relationship with her mother and her sisters. She was in and out of jail, until she met a friend there who suggested Lifeline.

Lifeline offered what she needed to make the change she so desperately wanted. She entered in March 2022 and graduated in November, remaining there in transitional housing this year while she works at H.T. Hackney Co., a food distributor.

The residential program’s benefits were many, but the most important was the sense of belonging she felt. “You have to have a connection,” she said. “I found a love here that I thought never existed.”

She liked Lifeline’s group counseling better than individual because she learned that others had gone through many of her same challenges. “We talked about our traumas and continued to talk outside of group therapy,” she said.

Jodeci also feels connected now in her church. “I didn’t grow up in church, but I study my Bible now and go to church,” she said. “That helps me with my sobriety.”

She is happy to be reunited with her family, with whom she spends weekends. “They’re proud of me, and they trust me now,” she said. “I feel great!”

Jodeci has gotten her driver’s license, bought a car and looks forward to the day when she can get her own home. “Thank you, Lifeline, for saving my life, but most of all, thank you for showing me there’s more out there than my previous life.”