Fresh-faced Marci may look like the girl next door, but in 2004 she reached the peak of a long, destructive battle with drugs. “I wanted to commit suicide. I just couldn’t stop using.” she says.

As a child, Marci excelled - academically. She was a cheerleader and scholarship candidate in high school. But there was a dark undercurrent in her life that few people saw. She had grown up terrified, a witness to the physical abuse of her mother and her pets.

"It affected my ability to pick loving men. I’ve had a lot of abusive relationships in my life,’’ she admits.

At 1 9, Marci got pregnant and married a drug addict with violent tendencies. Three years later she got pregnant again, and had twins.

While Marci worked two jobs and cared for the children, her husband used drugs constantly and cheated on her.

Finally, after five years and three suicide attempts, Marci filed for divorce. Shortly after, she was abducted. Fed methamphetamine intravenously, and tortured with sleep deprivation. When Marci finally escaped, she weighed 84 pounds and had broken vertebrae in her back. She was addicted, and had lost both of her jobs. Over the next several years, Marci was in and out of rehab. Social services took her children away. Then she was arrested on federal conspiracy charges for drug dealing, and faced 10 years to life in prison. She entered a 14 - month drug treatment programs .

But her troubles were not over - she relapsed. This time the court ordered her to enter the New Life Recovery programs at Open Door Mission.

Marci’s destructive patterns began to change. She now attends church regularly, and has her children back. But she knows the road ahead will be difficult.

“I’m really starting to turn things over to God and let Him be in control of my life. That’s the main thing - starting everything over,” Marci says.

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