Marchettas Testimony

I remember when I was about 8 yrs old; I was attending a church in Orangeburg, SC. My mother was an Evangelist. At the age of 13 yrs old, I gave my life to the Lord. I started singing in the choir and leading Worship service. At the age of 11 yrs old, while we were living in Awendaw, SC, I got molested by my Step-Father. I didn’t remember the molestation until I was going through therapy at Morris Village Treatment Center in 2001. My mother, one of my sisters and I, moved back to downtown Charleston. When I turned 16 yrs old, my sister that lived with my mother and I, moved with another one of my sisters and my mother and I moved with my godmother until we could afford and apartment.
    I enrolled into N. Charleston High School. I stayed there until I dropped out of school when I was in the 9th grade. I also started drinking, smoking cigarettes and smoking weed. At the age of 17, I was introduced to powder cocaine. I was snorting cocaine and smoking weed. I also started seeing this guy that was married. After his wife left him, I moved in with him. Not long after moving in with him, I started using crack cocaine, I had just turned 18 yrs old. I was getting abused by the man that I was living with; my family never knew what was going on, because I didn’t tell them. Whenever they saw bruises, I would tell them that I bumped my leg against the table or something. I was abused by him for 11 yrs. This went on until I left him. I was 28 yrs old and had two daughters that I had to take care of.
    I stopped using drugs in 2000 so that I could go to Nursing School. Not long after that, I started using again. That’s when my sister Odessa, went to DSS so that she could get temporary custody of my children. That didn’t stop me; I continued to use drugs anyway. Sometimes, I would be missing for days, or even, months at a time. My sister Anita would come looking for me, but she couldn’t find me. Drugs and the streets became my life. Being out there day and night after...