With parents lost to their own struggles, it’s no surprise Shelena first tried meth at twelve years old. By twenty, prison had already become a revolving door, swinging open again and again for more than a decade. She chased the high with relentless determination, ignoring the wreckage in her wake.
Crystal meth respected no boundaries—not the safety of a church pew, not the promise of higher education. She married a man from church, only to watch him fall into the same trap. Even after earning her degree, she celebrated with a binge of meth, alcohol, and firearms. She didn’t take a life that night, but the harm she caused earned her a seven-year sentence.
In prison, tragedy struck again—her brother died by suicide. Faced with a crossroads, Shelena knew returning home meant walking straight back into the life that had nearly destroyed her. She chose instead to start over.
Released in 2014, she stepped into freedom for the last time. A prison program called Beauty for Ashes had planted seeds of change, and Shelena was determined to nurture them. Six days after her release, she married. Five months later, after years of being told she could never have children, she learned she was pregnant.
Today, she lives in Chillicothe, Missouri—the same town where she once served her time—but now as the program manager for Beauty for Ashes. Clean. Strong. Whole.
Over lunch, her radiant grace and grounded strength made it hard to imagine the life she’d escaped. Shelena lives by the same truth that saved her:
“The decision you make today changes every decision you make. Take it to heart.”
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