"They got themselves in trouble; they can get themselves out.”
That used to be Deborah Hood’s opinion of those who battled drug and alcohol addictions. Then one day Hood heard about a young woman in the county jail who requested to stay two more weeks because she had nowhere else to go.
“I don’t know about you, but jail is not a place where I want to be, much less ask to stay because I have no safe place to go,” Hood said. “I don’t know what was playing on my mind at the time, but I do know that God spoke to me.”
And He spoke through three empty buildings in Rainbow City that had once been a church.
“I knew those buildings had been built to be used for the glory of God. God spoke to me in my spirit and said that He wanted a transitional home for ladies that had been incarcerated.”
‘Orchestrated by God’
She had no idea how to get started, but every step of the three-year process was “orchestrated by God,” Hood said.
Now in its fifth year, A Day of New Beginnings transitional home has taken in about 21 women who are trying to rebuild their lives from the mire of addiction and incarceration through an eight-month program of community service, career skills training, Bible studies and educational classes at Gadsden State Community College. Although not all participants complete the program, those who do are thriving, Hood said.
“We are all about getting the heart right with God, loving people and serving others,” Hood said, emphasizing the gift of God’s grace in every part of the program, including the name.
“Every day is a day to have a new start. If we messed up the day before, we have a new day, a day to have new beginnings, an opportunity to repent and start over.”
Community service
Housing four girls at a time, New Beginnings participants have painted houses, worked on horse farms, cleaned homes, assisted at Vacation Bible Schools and worked with Etowah Baptist Missions Center as part of their community service efforts.
The women in the program also attend Sunday morning services and Celebrate Recovery classes at North Glencoe Baptist Church, Glencoe.
Because it is a nonprofit, New Beginnings depends on donations from individuals, churches and groups such as the Wallace Usry Sunday School class at Macedonia Baptist Church, Gadsden. The class has been donating $25 a month since the program’s inception, said class member Linda Burke.
“Deborah is the only person (leading an organization) in this area that is there for these girls,” Burke said, encouraging others to get involved with this ministry.
“If more people got involved, [New Beginnings] would have the resources to be able to take more clients” and impact more lives for Christ, Burke said.
New Beginnings is sponsoring a free concert for the community at North Glencoe Baptist on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. featuring the Blackwood Quartet.
Hood said the concert is open to everyone and is a way of thanking those “who have helped us during our five years, whether by prayers or donations.”
To learn more about A Day of New Beginnings, call Deborah Hood at 256-467-4433.
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