2013 Imagine Award Honoree Kelli Maige

An unexpected pregnancy can often add unexpected complications, but when your life is as Kelli puts it, “on a path to destruction”, that pregnancy might be the very thing that saves your life.

When CHiP first started working with Kelli in the fall of 2010 she was an unemployed single mother who was in treatment for substance abuse and at risk for becoming homeless.  Kelli struggled with reorganizing her life and her priorities as she entered this new season of motherhood while her son Julian spent the beginning of his life in the NICU born addicted to drugs.

Kelly struggled with finding and keeping employment that could sustain her family. She lacked basic parenting information and knowledge, and continued to test positive for a variety of substances. But something deep within Kelli called out, “I want to be a good mom. I want something different.”

She worked diligently with CHiP, ARS (Addiction Recovery Services), Family Preservation Services, CYFS and Child Protective Services to ensure that she could keep and care for Julian. For Julian’s sake, Kelli became more cooperative with her service providers and worked through the difficult and physically painful process of detox. She refocused her priorities, took the initiative to pursue assistance when needed, and she even sold her most prized possession, her motorcycle, to help pay for the necessities and fines to get her license back.

Kelli remains sober and has advanced in the full time job that she has kept for more than a year. She has purchased a family friendly vehicle and is working on enrolling Julian in the city preschool program. Kelli has completed the requirements of her other service providers and as of August of 2012 her case was officially closed with CPS.

Kelli’s story illustrates the potential of personal transformation. Her love for her child may have inspired her to dig deep and do the work required to create a healthy, safe, stable home for her family, but in the process, she has become the kind of woman who can believe she is worthy of the same health and happiness she provides for her son. She is a picture of hope to all who seek redemption.