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FROM WILD CHILD TO RECOVERY SPECIALIST
All the treatment programs Kassie tried did little to help her addiction—until she invited God into the process.
By Lexi Aggen
The first time she tried meth, Kassie was only 14.
Her older brother had friends hanging about the house, one of whom gave her the drug. By the time she tried meth, she had already started smoking cigarettes and weed and had even received her first citation for alcohol possession. Even as a child, Kassie envisioned her life would turn out like one of the big parties she saw on TV.
Her mother, who struggled with an addiction to meth herself, didn’t discipline her children. If Kassie was grounded, it meant her mother would also be stuck at the house. As a result, Kassie got away with a lot.
A FAMILY OF HER OWN
A month after her first hit, police raided Kassie’s home, and she and her two brothers were sent to their grandparents’ house while their mother got sober.
“[Being] home with the grandparents, they were great … I was super open with them growing up,” Kassie says.
While there, Kassie experienced the structure she needed. She had a curfew to obey, rules to follow, and homework to do. The children stayed at one school, and every night dinner was served around the table. Kassie also attended school designed to help students struggling with substance abuse during this time to help her off drugs.
She stayed with her grandparents for nine months before moving back in with her mother, who was now sober. But Kassie continued living the party life.
At 20, Kassie gave birth to a daughter. She didn’t have a relationship with the father and assumed the role of single mother. A year later, Kassie started dating a man and became pregnant with her second child, a son. The couple split up, leaving her once again a single mother, this time with two kids and a full-time job. Kassie developed an addiction to Percocet shortly after the breakup when a friend gave her the drug.
Kassie justified her worsening addiction to Percocet because it made her feel that she had more control over her life. She thought if the house was picked up, she performed well at work, and she was home more, it must be okay. However, Kassie would soon learn how little control she had. During this time, she remained emotionally distant from her children.
OLD HABITS DIE HARD
Twelve years after her initial interaction with the drug, Kassie returned to meth. She was now 26 years old. Her mother urged her to seek treatment, but Kassie refused. She didn’t think she needed help.
As a result, her mother told her not to come home. Kassie listened. She became homeless, often living between her car and hotels, and lost all contact with her mother and children. Eventually, Kassie started shoplifting. Soon that turned to burglary and identity theft.
“It was small at first,” she says, “a little bit of shoplifting, maybe an eyeliner, but then it became more. … It was like a tornado.”
She cycled in and out of jails, each time paying bail for her release. Between her arrests, Kassie participated in many different treatment programs, but nothing made a difference. With each return to the streets, Kassie’s criminal activity increased. Eventually, she was convicted and given a 21-month sentence with no option for bail.
Kassie would soon learn how little control she had.
A FIGHTING CHANCE
Kassie decided to use the time wisely, knowing it was a chance for her to sober up, get away from bad influences, and reflect. She wanted to participate in programming, and after searching for and applying to a few different programs, she was accepted to the Prison Fellowship Academy® at Minnesota Correctional Facility—Shakopee.
The Academy guides participants through biblically based curriculum with the help of compassionate coaches. Over the course of the year, participants build community and learn how to address and overturn habitual criminal behavior.
The first day of classes, Kassie walked into the room nervous. The Academy is a rigorous program with a lot of homework—and she was never very good at homework. She knew the program had Christian values, and even though she didn’t consider herself a Christian and had little experience with the Church, she kept an open mind and heart.
It didn’t take long for Kassie to get excited about the classes—something felt different.
“The longer I was in [the Academy], the more wonderful it became,” she says. “I started learning about the faith part and digging into the Bible. It was really the atmosphere in the program [that] was completely different than the rest [of prison] that I experienced.”
Throughout the program, Kassie’s demeanor and attitude shifted. She stopped cursing and contacting people on the outside who encouraged her former bad habits. All the lessons she had heard in previous treatment programs finally made sense.
“The longer I was in [the Academy], the more wonderful it became.”
—Kassie
A CHANGED ATTITUDE
Kassie started to accept responsibility for the crimes she committed. A special focal point became Romans 12:2, which reads “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Kassie no longer wanted to conform to her old life, but instead wanted to live by God’s way. A deep longing was formed for a personal relationship with God, and she was starting to see imprints of His faithfulness throughout her life.
It was during this time that Kassie regained contact with her children. She used their visits and phone calls to share the lessons she was learning in the Academy, hoping her children might make better choices than she had.
Kassie graduated from the Academy one week before her release. She could have returned to her family—but Kassie knew going home wasn’t the best choice for her. She felt determined to pursue lasting change. After her release, she joined Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, a yearlong recovery program.
Kassie’s family interactions remained limited during the recovery program—but she never missed a nightly call with her kids. When she completed the program, she went to a sober house in Rochester, Minnesota, and got a job working at a grocery store.
Soon, Kassie saved up enough money to get her own place, where she was able to reunite with her children. She returned to Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, but this time as an employee.
A SHARED LIFE
Kassie now works at a recovery house as a recovery specialist, where she is able to share her testimony with others struggling in addiction. Many times, Christians are told to avoid talking about their faith while in this role—but because Kassie’s journey to recovery was directly linked to the Academy, Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, and her faith, she is granted permission to share.
“Some places try to cut you off from talking about God, but when I'm just being asked to share my story of recovery and what saved my life, I get to share about God,” she says.
The lessons Kassie learned during the Academy stayed relevant in her life. Growing up, she believed that if you loved someone, you never say no. While in the Academy, Kassie and the other participants read through the book Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, where she learned the value of setting healthy boundaries in relationships. Now, she knows that saying “no” when necessary is showing love.
Kassie continues to lean on the Lord in her day to day. Her prayer life remains a constant, and she looks forward to every opportunity she has to share the Gospel.
“My hopes for the future are to grow deeper in my faith,” she says. “I still go to church. I do Bible studies still. I've accomplished a lot of goals since I've been out and continued to stay sober. My next [goal] is to buy a house.”
Kassie continues to lean on the Lord in her day to day. Her prayer life remains a constant, and she looks forward to every opportunity she has to share the Gospel.
