Recovery and Reunification for Betty's Family

Betty Winders is a single mother of three who stared down 14 years of addiction and chose freedom.

In December 2024, Betty hit rock bottom. Facing multiple charges, already on probation, and staring at prison time, everything she had worked to hold together collapsed. But what felt like the end became a turning point. With fierce courage, Betty made the hardest decision of her life: she placed her children in foster care and with relatives so she could seek real help.

On December 20, she entered In His Wings, a long-term, Christian-based residential program for women battling addiction. There, Betty rebuilt from the inside out—completing parenting classes, 12-Step programming, revival counseling, life-skills training, and securing full-time employment.

While preparing to graduate, Betty heard about the 100 Families Initiative from another participant whose life had been changed. In July 2025, she enrolled, determined to rebuild her family’s future. Since then, Betty has worked diligently on budgeting, received advocacy in both her foster care and criminal cases, connected to critical resources, earned a promotion to assistant manager, graduated In His Wings, had all charges null-processed, secured her own home in Craighead County, and entered in-home trial placement.

On January 12, 2026—exactly one year to the day she lost custody—Betty is expected to regain full custody of her children. The courts have shared that she will be the first parent in county history to do so within a year.

Looking ahead, Betty has shared that her future goal is to help other mothers walking the same road she once traveled by becoming a drug addiction counselor—turning her hardest seasons into hope for others.