Joyce Handspike first met Rochelle Butler, DDS, while she was in a dark place – on a roller coaster of alcohol and crack use and making a living by selling drugs supplied by her Godson. “My teeth were bad. Dr. Butler had to pull all of them,” Joyce said. Fast forward 9 years to early July 2018. “I needed new dentures and heard Mercy Care could help me thanks to a grant from Piedmont Healthcare.”

Somehow, Dr. Butler remembered Joyce, fusing together the woman before her and the one who almost a decade ago lost her teeth as well as her family and nearly her life to poor living and drug abuse. “Dr. Butler was so happy to see the transformation and to be able to help me get new dentures,” Joyce said. “I was glad to return to Mercy Care, where nine years ago I started my journey toward a clean, sober and safe life.

Joyce says alcohol had always been her drug of choice. And then around 1998/1999 she started using crack to rebound from her alcohol binges and passing out. The alcohol, in turn, would help her come down after two or three days of smoking crack.

“My son and I had been living with my mother, when one day he said ‘Grandma, change the locks and never let her in again.’ I was coming and going between the drug house and home, and he couldn’t take it anymore.”

Her new situation only made her more determined to live her life her way, selling and running drugs which now also helped her ignore the loneliness and fear in her heart. “By the grace of God, I had not been present during a number of robberies and murders in and around the drug house,” Joyce said. “And then my Godson killed someone and went away to jail. My drug supply and income went away too.”

Joyce began to feel sick and tired of it all and walked into the Gateway Center crying for help. Despite being a shelter for men, Gateway put her up for a night or two in a safe space and introduced her to Mercy Care, located inside the homeless shelter. “I had nowhere to go and didn’t know what to do,” Joyce said. “At Mercy Care I found a doctor, referrals, eyeglasses, love and concern.”

Her connection to Mercy Care led her to St. Jude’s Recovery Center outpatient program and Another Chance Atlanta where she obtained transitional housing while recovering. “I went from thinking all I needed was drugs to attending group classes every day,” Joyce said. “I had worked in the service industry for decades before my addiction took over. Through a church ministry and AARP, I found a job in senior housing doing the leasing and helping seniors find housing. I’ve been there eight years now.”

Joyce has a car, home, job, bank account, bible study group and has reunited with her 92-year-old mother and the rest of her family. “It’s a miracle. I’m 65 years old, my health is great, my mind is sharp, I don’t smoke cigarettes, and I’m not on any medication. I am nine years clean, baptized and dedicated to my Lord and Savior. My connection to Mercy Care is strong and special.”