RaeDawn’s Success Story

Raedawn Tucker is sober and has a good job. After living on the streets, she has her social security card and driver’s license back and serves as the house mother at the Ogden Rescue Mission as well. She is preparing for life outside the Mission in a place of her own where she can live with and support her daughter.

As a life-long Northern Utahan, I never thought I would need help from a homeless shelter like the Ogden Rescue Mission.

But at 24 years old, I began a relationship with a man who led me into drug abuse. I started using opioid pills and eventually became addicted to meth for 10 years. During the pandemic I was arrested several times and spent months in jail.

I had burnt bridges because of my addiction so the last time I was released from jail in 2023 I didn’t have anywhere to go. The Ogden Rescue Misson was my only resort, the one place that would give me a chance and it saved my life.

I had never had a personal relationship with Jesus before, but after one month at the Rescue Mission I began a relationship with Jesus. I started attending the Juniper Tree Church in Clearfield. The people there are so welcoming and anytime I miss church I receive multiple texts from my church family letting me know they missed me and want to make sure I am OK. This is the kind of accountability I need and want and makes me feel like I matter and a part of a true community.

Today I am grateful to be sober for over a year. I have done so well that I was removed from probation early. The New Life Program helped me understand the reasons I was using drugs. I came to understand the past hurts I was masking through drug abuse. This understanding, along with my relationship with Jesus, has helped me to stay sober for the past year.

Today I have a great job at a local convenience store, which is not the career job I ultimately desire but is a job I feel blessed to have and believe God has provided me with and wants me to stay in for now. This job has supplied me with money to pay the fines I owed and get back on my feet again. I have paid almost all my fines and have been able to save money to prepare for having a house or apartment of my own again. Beyond paying off my debts I have also gained my driver’s license and got my social security card back.

I have been blessed to maintain good relationships with my family. My father, for example, has let me use a car he owns to get to work. My aunt and uncle have also supported me by taking custody of my daughter, who is 14. While I maintain a good relationship with my daughter, I realized several years ago that I was not the mother I needed to be. I could not take care of her in the way I should have and in the way she deserved. I am so thankful that my extended family has stepped up to support her when I couldn’t.

As I share my life story, my daughter is in student body leadership at her school and is trying out for the volleyball team. I am saving money and when I graduate from the New Life Program I hope to have a place where my daughter and I can live together.

In addition to my job at the convenience store, I also serve as the volunteer house mother at the Rescue Mission. This job allows me to give back to the homeless community and help them. There are many homeless women who come to the Mission and are in desperate situations. I am able to help them understand the New Life Program, share how the program changed my life, and explain how the program can help them.

It is awesome to help people who are in the same difficult situation I was once in. Thank you so much for supporting the Ogden Rescue Mission. Your support has helped me so much and blessed my family.