“You are not your mistakes. If you mess up, ask for help…”
What was life like before coming to Marian House? Quay entered in September 2022.
In my case, it depends on where the story begins. There’s a bizarre and confusing mix of awesomeness and tragedy. My journey to Marian House started around the same time COVID plagued the world. I’d recently moved to Baltimore. I lived by the harbor; thought Thad the career of my dreams, and literally 3 bad decisions later, I was in rehab by the end of that year, facing eviction, addiction, and I was quickly spiraling into deep despair.
What led you to Marian House?
Three years after COVID, after my struggles with substance abuse started, I experienced being homeless in Iowa, trapped in a relationship with an ex-convict and life-long criminal. I recently lost the baby I had with that guy. I hated my job at a local grocery. My grandfather had died 2 days before my 34th birthday. And yeah, I was still struggling with my addiction. I was using in the bathroom of my job and dropping weight like water. I ended up having a moment where I decided I was going to give up, that my addiction was unbeatable. I spent an entire week running the streets of Baltimore. During that week I experienced where my addiction was going to lead me to (in the worst ways), and on that 5th day, a couple I was using with walked me to treatment, and that’s where this journey began.
How would you describe Marian House to someone else?
Marian House is a safe haven for women and families, where you will be loved and encourages until you learn to love and encourage yourself. Marian House is a place where you can shed your traumas, your pain and recover from whatever circumstance led you here. At Marian House, anyone can grow, become educated, and learn healthy life skills that will directly help you become the best version of yourself. Marian House is the only place they anyone should go if they really want a better life, as it is unlike any other rehabilitation center in the city. Marian House will teach you how to manage your money, everyday work/life balance skills, relationships, emotions, and your schedule. You cannot leave this place without learning to be a productive human, PERIOD.
What has been the most helpful to you at Marian House?
It would hands down have to be the fact that most of the staff are female and each and every one of them love and respect the women that come through the doors. They don’t see you as your mistakes and every staff member pulls out the very best in you. I really take a lot from my therapy sessions with Ms. Beth who is the most phenomenal woman. She has this crazy ability to pull things out of me I try to hide. I really couldn’t imagine my growth without my counselor, Ms. Beth.
What’s something you learned here that you will take with you?
I learned that it’s okay to ask for help and needing others doesn’t make me weak. I learned that trauma isn’t always physical and emotional scars do in fact shape you in ways that may not be so easily detectable but are still equally as important to address.
When people support Marian House, what are they supporting?
They are helping women have a safe place to go each night. They are supporting educational dreams and aspirations. They are helping women find and keep careers. They are helping clothe, feed, educate, and mold women to become better citizens and better parents. They are helping women realize their potential by taking away, just for a while, the stress of dealing with a life full of the challenges that hold them back.
If you could talk to your younger self (5 or 10 years ago), what would you tell them?
You are not your mistakes. If you mess up, ask for help, dust yourself off, and start over. You can trust people and you can accomplish anything you want with a plan and action.
Yet, I’m learning that to hope is not to pretend that the frustrations, challenges and disappointments don’t exist, but it is to acknowledge them and have hope despite, and in the midst, of them — that we can say: Yes, we grieve the lives lost to violence AND hold hope for a violence-free city through public health programs like Safe Streets Baltimore and Baltimore CeaseFire. We are frustrated by the numbers of unhoused citizens of Baltimore AND hold hope because of programs like HelpingUpMission, Project PLASE, Marian House, and many others who provide shelter for those without. We are disappointed that we are seemingly back to where we started with COVID cases surging in our city and beyond AND hold hope that one day this will be behind us and there will be relief especially for health care workers and others in the front lines. Our 
One of the beloved House Managers, Liz Smith, also celebrates her 10th anniversary at Marian House. Liz is an alumna and was part of the program from October 8, 2007, until October 2, 2008, and is forever grateful for how the program changed her life for the better. She loves the women and wants to help them as much as she was helped during her time in the program.
Resident Crab Feast 
New Fund to Be Established