Home Again: Laura's Story
Laura is a 38-year-old woman, born in Michigan but raised in Mankato, MN from the time she was six years old, is a complete extrovert. Her smile is infectious, she’s a gifted conversationalist, and she’s long harbored a dream of becoming a therapist.
“I really want to go general therapy, helping people have a stable outlook on their own person,” said Laura, “Whether that be children and grief, marriage, helping other military kids like me, just helping people going through big changes.
“We’re always our own biggest critics. It’s really easy to feel like you failed. I think it’s important to realize that none of us are failing. It’s remarkable sometimes to still be in one piece.”
Laura went to college right out of high school. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree. It was right before her college graduation that trouble found her. “I was with a guy who asked me to pull over on our way somewhere, he hopped out of the car and the next thing I knew, I was being charged with first degree sales because he sold cocaine to an undercover cop.” Laura was given 10-year probation that, pending no issue, would drop down to a misdemeanor.
“That really rocked my world. It really impacted the job field for me, really limited me. I think that took over me mentally, too. It’s when depression first set in.” Soon after, Heroin became a part of her life.
Laura started a tumultuous relationship with another man after graduation. “This was at the height of the opioid epidemic. All of it, my addiction, my probation, all of it was hanging over my head. The stress of that and being really engrossed in a relationship. I started to spiral.”
This period of her life, between addiction and unhealthy romantic relationships, would last for years. “I was lucky I had my family around me. They called my probation officer, and it led to me doing six inpatient and probably the same number of outpatient treatment programs. I also graduated from drug court through the County. All of it has given me three years of sobriety.”
Before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura’s romantic relationship dissolved, and she was accepted into graduate school at Winona State University, where she started her Master’s Degree in the hopes of picking up her dream of becoming a therapist once again.
“It was really cool to be accepted into Winona State. It gave me a big confidence boost. Then COVID hit.”
Laura shared that trying to go back to school during the pandemic was a challenge. Learning moved online, her daily routine completely shifted, she didn’t have regular engagement in person. “It really put the therapist dream on hold again.”
Laura started a relationship with another man. “He had actually gone to school with my first ever boyfriend, so he kind of felt like home.” But he had his own challenges, meth use being one of them. “I really wanted drugs to not be the center of my life, anymore.”
It wasn’t long before Laura learned she was pregnant. “Parenthood was a lot of pressure for both of us. I took the sober route, he didn’t.”
Many in Southern Minnesota will remember the Douglas fire that took place last year. The house that burned down was Laura’s home. “My son’s father was a scrapper, and so we had a partially scrapped camper van sitting in the driveway. That’s what I moved into after the fire. When he started dating someone else, he moved out of the camper, and I lived there all alone for almost 8 months.”
Because neither of them had home insurance, they didn’t receive insurance money to repair the home or to move to a different dwelling after the fire. “I had my family in Mankato, but the problem is Mankato doesn’t have a methadone clinic like Rochester does.”
Laura stayed in the camper as long as she was able in order to be close to that clinic. “The camper only had electricity a third of the time. It wasn’t fully put together. It really was just me and my cats. It was a really hard winter.
“Going from having so much to do, to being knocked down to having nothing to do, that feels so defeating. I went from a home and a boyfriend to being in a camper alone with my cats. I had this sense of feeling like I wasn’t worth anything to anyone.”
Several months later, when the City came to clean up the property and it was no longer possible for her to stay in the camper, Laura was left with no choice but to rely on her family back in Mankato for a place to stay. “That was hard because my family had made the decision that my son would live with my sister. It was their decision, not mine.” This led to an argument with her sister and the rest of her family that ultimately led to her family asking her to leave their home.
Laura came back to Rochester with nowhere to stay and only the items she could carry. “As soon as I got to living on the street, my wallet was stolen, my phone was stolen, I lost my food stamps card. I basically lived in an alley for two months, until there was an opening for an apartment at Castleview.”
The Salvation Army Castleview Apartments are located at 120 North Broadway Avenue in Rochester. The complex is composed of 32 studio apartments that provide housing and case management for single adults experiencing long-term homelessness. The program provides permanent supportive housing, so there’s no limit to the time someone can live there and there’s a case manager on site to help residents to achieve the goals they set for themselves.
“Once I was in an apartment, I was able to get everything stolen replaced. This place has really been a blessing. I’m really glad this winter is going to be better than last year.”
Laura’s next step is getting back to waitressing, something she hopes will give her a launching pad. “It’s so hard to get a job when you don’t have a place to live.”
In five years, Laura would like to be able to say she’s worked somewhere stable for multiple years. “If I could move on to getting my own house or a portion of a house, I would love that. I would love to have a home that I’m renting to own.”
Laura also shared that she hasn’t let go of her dream of going back to school to give her lifelong dream of being a therapist one more shot. “It would put all of my life events into the category of ‘doing research time.’ I can do a lot more to help people now than when I was fresh out of college.”
In 10-20 years, Laura would love to have her own home therapy office. “Remember the movie ‘Meet the Falkers?’ The mom had her home office? That’s the idea.”
Laura would also like to build better relationships with her family, something she acknowledged will take effort on both their parts. Her son currently lives with her sister in Washington State. She got to see him in person three months ago, but with him living so far away, it’s impossible for her to see him as often as she would like. “I definitely want to get to a place where I can be a more regular part of his life, and he can be a part of my daily life, too.”
When asked what thoughts Laura would share with others going through difficult times, she said “Life will always throw you curve balls, and you’re never going to be fully prepared for every one of them.
“Give yourself a few more good graces than you would normally. At the end of the day, you’ve got to know you’re the only one who’s going to carry you through it all. You’ve got to have more patience and care for yourself.
“I feel like I’m a long ways away from who I was. When you have those really big moments, it’s almost comical to get those hard moments to feel like the past tense. Once it’s past tense, it’s something you can process and work on.”
To submit a prayer request for Laura, or to learn more about The Salvation Army Castleview Apartments, please visit RochesterSA.org.