Kim Walker found more than a place of work when she walked through the doors of the Unleavened Bread Cafe. She found a nurturing space and a path to a better, fuller life.
"I needed to see somebody that walked down the same pathway that I walked down and could give me some hope."
Video Transcript
Meet Kim, a survivor in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(Kim reads an excerpt from Kim’s poem, “Crack, Cracked, and God Took Me Back.”)
Kim: You thought and I thought my life was over, but little did we both know, that was the beginning of my story, my story, the pain that I went through.
I am a recovering addict — recovering not only from prostitution and crack cocaine, but also a whole lot of other different traumas that I had experienced. I needed something tangible. I needed to see somebody that walked down the same pathway that I walked down and could give me some hope.
Elease Womack: We have ladies that had been through so much trauma.
Kim: It was someone to guide me and to nurture me, like a mother does.
Elease: That's what I am, a nurturer. I try to nurture these women.
Kim: When I got back into society and wanted a job — this was my first job. I've been a cook. I've been a dishwasher. I've been a cashier. Not only did they have a living skills class, but they also had a “keep it real” class, really kind of just showing me how to respond to different things as I learned how to live without the use of drugs.
Kim speaking to a gathering of women: My addiction was crack cocaine and prostituting, right? You might can't relate to that, but the pain, you can relate to the pain. The pain is still the same, right?
Elease: There's times that I had my own moments and I can just cry and say, "Lord, thank you for the women that you put in my life because they're doing some big things. I tell you, things I would've never dreamed.”
Kim: My goal is to own my own cleaning business. God has already given me the name — which is Noble One — and really that's what my name means. These hands are anointed — anointed and appointed to do God's work. It's just like, use your hands for something good and that's to clean.
Death, you thought you had me. I'm not talking about a physical death. It's spiritual. Death did not know that I was chosen before the beginning of time, that God said in His word, Kim's not supposed to die. You see, I was weak. I was drained. I almost went insane, I love you, oh Lord, my strength. Crack, cracked, and God took me back. I survived.
Kim: What made me go to church? I didn't go to church. It wasn't in my agenda, but nothing else kept me. When I say, "God, I don't know what I'm doing, but give me wisdom. Understand the revelation of the word, and your will, and your way," and then it told me that by seeking, just like I sought the dope out, that He'll reveal Himself to me.
