Title of Tip: If you have faith, you have everything
Name: Nakeisha Alcorn, 39
Description: If you have faith, you have everything. It is something unseen. It’s just believing that if you invest in something, it will turn out in your favor. Whether you are sure of the outcome, you follow the right path because you believe you will come out on the other side. I have faith in something greater than me, and that’s God. He has shown up for me so much that I never question his realness. Faith helped me find strength through my journey and has kept me alive. It has got me through a lot of mental anguish and traumas in my life and pulled me through. I have never questioned or second-guessed my higher power; my mom instilled God in me. You know, they say if you don’t believe in anything, you will fall for everything, so you have got to find something. It does not have to be God, but something that you believe in that is powerful. You have got to hold on to that, and you have to stand for something because otherwise, you will fall for everything.

Instructions: Think about what you have faith in. Then, take that faith to help you work through something happening in your life. Be patient; you may want it resolved immediately, but it does not happen that way; patience is a virtue. Part of faith is doing good. Your heart has to be good. You have to be genuine and do the next right thing. As long as you try to do right, even if it goes wrong, wait it out because I promise you there is something at the end of that storm. It’s going to be a rainbow, and it’s going to pay off.
Learning: I was a heroin addict for most of my life, and you know what comes with that. I lost a lot of people close to me; they passed away, and I almost lost my mind. I had a mental breakdown a few years ago, and it was when my mom died that I hit rock bottom. I felt like I wasn’t coming back like I lost my mind for real. My mom was the strongest person I’ve ever met, and she instilled a lot of greatness in me. I used to be wild, so when I was out there ripping and running, my mom would not talk to me but would text me every night, “Don’t forget to pray.” She put that in me, and I grabbed onto that. So, when I lost her, I could have stayed at rock bottom. She put so much good in me that I reversed course, and I’m on a better path these days. It was sad losing her, but losing her also saved my life. I refused to believe that the bottom was my life. There’s something great out there waiting for me.Story: I was in active addiction. My girlfriend, along with my friend, and I were dope sick. It was a bad day, and we didn’t have any money, we didn’t have anything. We were just about out of gas. We had been boosting at stores and had all this merchandise; we were trying to get some gift cards to flip and get some money. I was at my end, and I could do anything at that point to anyone. I was ready to take an old lady out of the game; that’s where I was. I’m sitting in the truck, and we’re at our last Walmart, trying to get this money to get this card. My girlfriend enters the store while my friend and I stay in the truck. It’s 7:00 at night, and I’m about to take the lady out. I’m praying for something to happen. Then who comes out? Some lady. Our windows are rolled up, and it’s hot as heck, and I don’t know why our windows are up. I hear a knock on our window. We roll it down, and this lady says, “Can I help you?” She was putting her groceries away and said, “I don’t mean to offend you, but could I hand you $20?” We looked at each other and were like, “Yes!” No sooner than that, here comes Summer; she got the card off. The lady asks, “Would y’all meet me at the gas station?” We’re like, “Yes.” We pull over there, and she fills our truck up. She’s standing there staring at me and saying nothing, and I’m like, “What’s up?” She’s like, “I don’t know why, but God told me to help you all.” I knew he wasn’t helping us to get our next fix. Still, he knew I was about to do something crazy; for that lady to come from nowhere, and I was sitting there praying this whole time, he showed up for me because I was about to do something crazy that I probably couldn’t come back from. It’s a story I hold on to every day; God showed up for me.