Thirteen years ago, Cassandra Braboy began her recovery. The mother of two is a recovering alcoholic.
“I was broken. I had two little girls I had lost,” Braboy said. “I found a deep reality inside me and that’s the only way God can be found. My God wants me to go out and help other people.”
Just four years into recovery, Braboy started doing just that. In the last nine years, she has helped more than a thousand women begin their path to recovery and it all started with a house.
“I got a lot of help from God,” she said. “I just had faith. My first house, I had a dream and I just went for it.”
Braboy turned her own house into a recovery center for women. Fast forward to 2015, she now owns two houses and rents another, filled with 18 beds for women who need help. She got her non-profit title in May for ‘Just for Today’ which holds an impressive success rate.
“We help ladies find jobs, help them find a God of their understanding. We also help them find a new way to live,” Braboy said. “Just for Today takes women off the street, out of jail, out of treatment centers, detoxes and helps them recover from alcohol and drugs.”
Women staying at the original Just for Today home said Braboy’s homes have saved their lives.
Nancy Hopper is recovering from crack cocaine. This is her second time staying at a Just for Today house.
“I called her and asked, “Did she have a bed?” I needed a bed. I brought myself back here,” Hopper said. “She told me she’d have a bed in two weeks so I sold everything I had. Gave up everything and came here.”
Hopper said she had been sober for seven years.
“I moved back home and every time I go back home, I mess up,” Hopper said. “It’s a life I wouldn’t wish on no one.”
Corinne Manning said she’s been battling alcoholism for five years.
“About a month and a half ago, I was homeless. And I’m recovering with poison ivy from the place where I lived,” Manning said. “I need the support of these women. They keep me straight, we laugh. We pray.”
Manning said without Just for Today, she doesn’t know if she’d be alive.
“I’m not going to let the rest of my life be drinking and drinking and drinking,” Manning said.
Braboy said seeing and helping other women has helped keep her sober.
“I see the brokenness and then I see the light come on and see them grow,” Braboy said. “I have my family today. I’m an electrician for Greenville county schools today and I’m the director for Just for today. Who would have thought?”
The nonprofit is run on donations and grants. Anyone who’d like to learn more about Just for Today or donate can contact Cassandra at 864-361-8070.
See full story on WYFF: http://www.wyff4.com/news/recovered-addict-my-god-wants-me-to-go-out-and-help-other-people/34469586
by Aly Miles
1:49 PM EDT Jul 31, 2015