Meet Cherrie

 

Hello, my name is Cherrie Curtis. I would like to thank the Northern Nevada Dream Center for giving me the opportunity to share my story. I know what it’s like to have no faith, or to feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, hopeless, defeated…worried, stressed…alone and 100% BROKEN. Today I choose to share my story to let others know that there is hope in our community. Also, to remind you that you are not alone, and change is possible! Today, I can say the Dream Center, its volunteers and staff, have gone above and beyond for my family. I am grateful to be where I am today and have the support I have.

So again, I am Cherrie. I have lived nearly my whole life in Carson City, Nevada, which is where I currently reside. I am 25 years old. Today I am a grateful survivor, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend, and an extremely proud mom to four beautiful children.

You can say, though, that it wasn’t always this way. In January 2011 my life took a downward turn as I was 14 and the victim of sexual assault. Long story short it was videotaped and posted on social media and shared in messages. I spent a total of nine months in two hospitals where I was sedated, undergoing testing, procedures, exploratory surgeries, and receiving care that was saving my life. I feel no need to explain what that can and will do to one’s mental state. I missed the whole summer of my 8th-grade year and 80% of my freshman year because of this, and even though I received an abundance of counseling, the trauma and defeat took over and my life did a completer 180 real quick. The humiliation and bullying I endured soon lead to me dropping out of school the first week of my sophomore year. I then found myself 15 and pregnant April 2013. I got my GED from Carson Adult Education. Macii was born in August 2013, when I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. Truthfully, with everything I was going through, a new baby and now post-partum, life really got the best of me, and this is where my story really starts.

Trying to find comfort in a world so cold, instead I found drugs. Next, 17 and pregnant, September 11,2015. I am 18 years old now and giving birth to my second child, while her biological father sat in jail. It was almost unreal. My poor babies…I really tried for them.  Realistically, how was I supposed to take care of two innocent babies when I couldn’t even help myself? I was empty, traumatized…lost. I told my mom about the drugs and asked for help with the kids while I attempted to get clean, cope, and pass through the trench I was stuck in, yet still, I found myself lost in a world of nothing but chaos once again. May of 2016 came and I had hit the very bottom. Sticking needles in my arms daily just to numb the pain. Truthfully, I was helpless. I just wanted to die. I had no hope, no faith left. How can someone endure so much? I asked my mom and Dad to please take temporary custody of Macii and Ariel so they could be properly cared for and safe. I removed myself out of the home in the beginning of June 2016, and two short weeks later I was arrested on drug charges. It was seriously like I couldn’t get clean. Jail didn’t help, counseling didn’t help, went to rehab and that didn’t help. Nothing…nothing did. I was on the run with warrants, pretty much couch hopping through Reno, simply looking for my next fix.

Waiting to die… I went in and out of jail, attempted counseling (again!) and somewhere found my husband Justin. Quickly March 1, 2017 came and we got married. I was in the midst of a horrific addiction. Two weeks later, back in jail I was. 19 years old, incarcerated once again. I was six weeks pregnant with my third child. Next was to call my husband of two weeks to tell him I was pregnant with his child while sitting in a cell detoxing off nearly every drug out there…next week I was revoked from drug court where I was able to gain four and a half months of sobriety. At almost eight months pregnant I was released, I then had my first doctor’s appointment where I found out I was having my baby boy, which brings me to the first time I encountered the Northern Nevada Dream Center. At the time, my parents were managing a local motel in Carson City in order to keep a roof over Macii and Ariel’s heads after becoming homeless when our landlord found out I had caught a felony drug case. I was now less than 48 hours out of jail when my mom told me she wanted me to meet a lady from the Dream Center, named Kara. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was just out of jail, about to have a baby. I literally had nothing. I didn’t have two of my oldest children, my husband and I were separated…I was a wreck. Five o’clock that evening came and two white vans pulled in and my mom had me go meet the crew. Kara told me my parents had been newly involved with the Dream Center program, that had been offering those in need hygiene products, clothing, toiletries, food boxes, and warm prepared dinners once a week. Then she let me know my mom spent most of her encounters talking about my situation and praying with her for months, while I was on the streets and in jail. I think there were five members there that first day who all went together and asked if they can pray for me. I was having a hard time explaining my thoughts and my anxiety was through the roof. I agreed to pray. I had never felt “at peace” the way I did during that prayer. We prayed for Landon’s health and his recovery during the extreme detox we unfortunately were both enduring. We prayed that I would find the strength to carry out my sobriety and for the courage to know I was strong enough to face every battle I was being faced with, among other things. The next day I was surprised and shocked to see that everyone who had prayed with me had brought a truckload of stuff for all three kids and me. Everything from baby clothes for when Landon arrived -to maternity clothes, a car seat, shoes for Macii and Ariel, etc. They brought me a journal I still have today…

I continued to come weekly to the Dream Center to pray, and they always made sure I had what I needed, as well as the others around me. In December I had Landon, Justin and I got back together, I was sober, but living arrangements were scarce. We stayed with my parents in their fifth wheel for a while before my parents were able to help us get on our own travel trailer. Shortly after moving in everything started going wrong. We were grateful to have it, but the bathroom, our heater and our plumbing stopped working. Our trailer was leaking mass amounts of water…Justin lost his job. I stopped reaching out and then got pregnant with my fourth daughter, Haislie (like Paisley with an H) on top of it all. Stress and constant fighting consumed Justin and I when Haislie was born. Four kids, one newborn, and us in a 26-foot travel trailer was rough. During this time was when I first met Susan. She and another lady Karla came and helped us, bringing us food, diapers, and paper plates because we didn’t have plumbing, a space heater so we had heat and blankets for the kids. Again, we prayed for strength for my family.

Five months later Justin and I were going through the beginning of a divorce, a custody battle, fighting to even see my youngest two because Justin took them after multiple failed attempts I lost three years of sobriety. I gave up again…that quick the girls were back with my mom, and there I was. Rock bottom. Thankfully, I was able to get back on track in a few months this time. Justin and I were able to work things out, slowly. We ended up at my in-law’s house in Washoe Valley, which at first was fine. Soon though, his mom and brother were back on drugs. $1000, my debit card, and our place to live was taken from us because they needed their drugs. The Washoe County sheriff said we had to remove the kids from the house or they would be taken. So we packed what little we could with our kids and left. Nowhere to go, we became homeless for nine months. We drove around Northern Nevada looking for resources for housing…we camped for nine months in the vehicle I currently drive today. Still driving arrangements have to be made for multiple trips because we can’t all fit. It’s hard now, but homelessness was insane.

In November 2021 we finally got our own apartment! I hadn’t been in contact with the Dream Center in almost two years because I was embarrassed because I relapsed. I decided I was going to reach out and as always Susan welcomed us with open arms. Since then they have assisted us with food, clothing, laundry soap, toiletries, a couch, a dining room table, and a large dresser for the kids. We are beyond grateful for all the help…there is hope, and change is possible! The Dream Center is always there to help in times of need and to remind you that you are not alone and God hears you. I have never felt judged or ashamed by the staff or volunteers. Today my family is living a normal life. I am 16 months clean again and we are together and happy. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story and thank you Northern Nevada Dream Center for having faith in me and helping my family.

Cherrie Curtis

July 2022