PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Mary Ann Kussmaul knew Bridgette Williams and Patricia Hormate when they were at their worst.
“I remember Bridgette with purple hair when I went out and fed them in the woods, and she would swear at me and ride a little bicycle away. I remember Trish walking around with a baseball bat," said Kussmaul, Outreach Director at Shady Hills Mission Chapel.
Williams turned her life around when she got pregnant.
“I didn’t get sober until I was like 25, 26," Williams said. "And even within the last three years of doing that, I’ve done so much in my life to make me where I’m going somewhere.”
Since we last talked with Williams in October, she’s gotten her GED and is working as a manager at McDonald's.
Williams also continues to volunteer at the church that helped her get where she is: Shady Hills Mission Chapel.
“The church is always here for people if they need something. If you need to call them and message them," she said. “They welcome us with open arms, and they have all kinds of programs that can help people.”
As for Hormate, she just celebrated one year of sobriety. She said living with Williams and her daughter got her off the streets and helped her to succeed.
“With being there for me and not giving up on me and helping me get through it all," said Hormate.
Hormate is also making up for lost time after reconnecting with her son and granddaughter.
She is planning to get her high school diploma and is working at a bar, but she hasn’t fallen back despite being surrounded by people who are drinking.
“It’s alright. They keep me motivated not to be that way.”
At Shady Hills Mission Chapel, Williams and Hormate volunteer, putting together care packages for those who are still living with addiction and homeless.
They say the help is here if you want to change.
“There is so much more to life. You don’t see it when you are high. It’s all cloudy. You don’t even think about it until you are sober," said Williams.
