Benita James Dixon

Number one, God. And trust in people that were around me, trusting people in my circle. They saw in me what I didn't see in myself. So they encouraged me, and they really pushed me in areas where I said, oh, I don't think I can. When I first got clean and started working, I was really petrified of computers because I thought if I mess something up, how do I fix it? People really don't mind helping. Through having a daughter, and my daughter and I were in college together as well, and having younger grandchildren, they helped me navigate through using a computer. They showed me how to undo stuff. It was just people investing in me, and that helped me learn how to invest in my own self.

The sky is the limit. Believe in yourself. For a long time, a lot of people had counted me out, and I used to count my own self out as well. Until people started pouring into me and encouraging me, and I started seeing some things for my own self about myself, and I was like, well, I'm not so bad. I really can do this thing. Not just the part of staying clean, but the part of just living life, making good decisions, taking the Godly Direction, which is the acronym for GOD. And just believing that doing the right thing, you're gonna get the right result.

Trust the process. Don't even think about it. Let somebody else think for you. My thinking was so distorted throughout my addiction, and my thinking was totally messed up, so I had to trust other people's thinking. The main people who I learned to trust more was my daughters, because I knew they knew me, and I knew they wouldn't try to do anything to hurt me. I would trust a lot of the stuff that they would tell me. A lot of stuff they would help walk me through, just home living, just living in a house. I didn't even know how to grocery shop. I would get 2 heads of lettuce and no salad dressing, hot dogs and no rolls, peanut butter and no jelly. I didn't even know how to be in the supermarket. So I would tell people to trust the process, and trust people, because some people are genuine, and they do really want to help.

The biggest challenge right now is that since school has let out, the children, mainly the teenagers, in summertime don't want to come in, they don't want to get medication, they don't want to see the doctor, and the finances drop. That sometimes makes us have to work extra hard, meaning we have to go out and do a lot of collaborating, sit outside and collaborate with other programs to try to sell the company. The numbers drop in the summer because we service children. The biggest opportunity for me is learning, watching others thrive, and watching these children sometimes come in one way and they leave out better. These children that we service are pretty messed up, and it takes a special kind of kindness, love, and again, value for human life to take the time to talk with these children, even if it's just to give them a hug. By the time it's time to go back to school, a lot of these children have to go through crisis, they have to go through the hospital because they've been off medication and they're unbalanced. A lot of them end up back in hospitals, in the crisis units. There's such a big influx of children coming back in for service to get their lives back on track.

Honesty, integrity, do what you say you're gonna do, mean what you say, say what you mean. Value people. It's so important to value people for me, living in my home, allowing people to have a right to be themselves. Caring unconditionally, because I look at where I came from, and people have poured into me. I was a mess, I'm telling you. And I just want, that's all I want to do is give back to others what was given to me. That was kindness, empathy, like I said, just integrity, honesty, and just trusting in the God of your own understanding.