A Journey of Restoration
When Marisol first walked through the doors of the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, she was carrying a heavy burden of anger, pain, and confusion. Due to drug abuse and addiction in her past, Marisol had been in a similar homeless situation before. Though she was sober this time around, the sheer weight of her trauma, new tragedies, and poor choices made her reality too heavy to face upon arrival at IFRM. Marisol was dealing with a domestic dispute that she admittedly caused, forcing her to leave her home and her children behind. “I was grieving and so angry. I was so closed off and really looking back now, I was in denial and unwilling to take any responsibility for my situation.”
For the first few months, her guard stayed up. “I was very stubborn. I had a big ego and a lot of shame for being in this position again. I was not accepting where I was at in life.”
While Marisol struggled to let people in, the staff responded with steady patience, giving her the exact thing she needed: time and space to intentionally process her life. Soon after, her case manager helped her set concrete goals for employment and housing. Marisol began filling out applications and doing the hard work, but progress was slow, and the weight of her losses often caught up to her.
For nearly three months, Marisol’s bunk was her only refuge, where she would sit alone and weep under the weight of her grief. Day after day, a staff member would find her there. She never demanded explanations, nor did she try to offer quick fixes. Instead, she chose to simply show up, pull up a chair, and meet Marisol in her pain. Time and time again, the staff member would gently place a hand on her shoulder and pray over her. “When she finished, I would stop crying and feel better,” Marisol recalls. It was this steady, repetitive rhythm of prayer and faithful presence that slowly broke through Marisol’s walls. This became the very foundation for her healing, giving her the courage to process her trauma, take responsibility, and start building her faith and trust in Jesus.
As her emotional walls came down, her faith grew. Through Bible studies and encouragement of a caring volunteer, Marisol began attending church and realized God had been working behind the scenes the entire time. With her growing faith came a completely new view of herself. “I was so negative and angry and always down on myself,” Marisol shares. “And now I’m proud of myself that my mind is stronger and I have a different way of thinking.”
After successfully completing the program, Marisol moved into Hope House, a program through St. John’s Lutheran Church that gave her the opportunity to experience independent living for the first time in her life. Wanting to give back, she returned to IFRM to volunteer. But God had an even bigger plan for her next chapter: on her first day of volunteer training, IFRM offered her a permanent position on staff. Since April 2026, Marisol has worked in Guest Services at the women’s shelter, turning her past pain into a lifeline for women standing exactly where she used to be. With her children safely back in her care, she is now looking forward to her next milestones: finishing her education, earning her GED, and becoming a certified case manager.
Looking back, Marisol can see how far she has come. When asked what she would tell herself at the moment she arrived at IFRM, she shared, “At one point, I felt like this was all impossible to achieve, but things you don’t expect to happen, will happen. God brings things when we least expect it, so change your train of thought!” Her message to anyone else going through a dark time is direct and honest: “Your background doesn’t matter, whether it’s drugs, bad choices, or loss. You need to try every day. Don’t give up on yourself.”
Marisol’s journey reminds us that transformation is rarely a single, dramatic moment. Often, it begins quietly—with a hand on your shoulder, a prayer, or a community that refuses to give up on you. And even when you cannot see the path ahead, God is already preparing you for the next chapter.