My Name is Barbara Weber. I am 22 years old. I came here to Set Free all the way from Utah. I have been a heroin IV user for five years. My addiction has taken everything from me. I lost my son, husband and all of my family’s trust and respect. I knew I needed a change in my life. I needed something I could not find in this world. I could never understand why I was the way I was. Every time things got hard in my life, I would turn to drugs. I grew up in a good home. My mom and dad both worked and raised my three older brothers and I. My dad was diagnosed with cancer and he fought it for five years before it took his life. The loss of my father really impacted me. I became very depressed. My grades started failing. I got kicked off the cheer team. I began to look at men to comfort me. I also started drinking. At the age of eighteen, I started using heroin. Things kept getting worse in my life to the point I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I have been to many rehabs and sober living homes but nothing seemed to help. My addiction had taken over my life. I lived everyday for something that was taking everything that I loved away from me. Before I came to Set Free I was praying that God would give me guidance and open a door for an opportunity, because I wanted my life back! I went over to my Mom’s house and I was sitting at her kitchen table watching my Mom cry, begging me to get help and be a daughter and a mother again. She told me that if I wasn’t going to do something and get help that she didn’t want me around anymore. I had heard things like this from her before; but I knew this time it was different. I saw it in my mother’s eyes through the tears and in her voice, she was serious. I came to California not knowing what was going to happen. Something amazing happened! I found Jesus here at Set Free. I have a reason to live again. God has been restoring my relationships with my family. I get to go home which I haven’t been able to in two and a half years. But most importantly, I get to be a mother to my beautiful son. And it is all because of the grace of God. I am truly blessed to have been able to come here to Set Free.

Barbara Weber