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Four years ago, after surviving family violence and battling addiction, Jamii walked into a Salvation Army centre to work off unpaid fines. This Christmas, she’s returning for a very different reason — as a long-term volunteer whose life has been transformed by hope, faith and community connection.

Four years ago, Jamii walked into The Salvation Army on a Wednesday because she had to.

She was completing a Work and Development Order to pay off court fines. After years of experiencing harrowing domestic violence and battling addiction, she wasn't looking for faith. She certainly wasn't expecting to find connection. And by then, she had lost all hope.

Now, every Wednesday — and again this Christmas — she'll walk through those same doors, but for a very different reason.

Giving hope to others

Today, Jamii is a long-term volunteer and an active member of her local Salvos community.

Every Wednesday, she arrives with her energetic two-year-old son, who has been coming to The Salvation Army since he was a baby. She helps out in a number of capacities and will also volunteer as part of the Salvos' Christmas support.

What began as something Jamii had to do became something she wanted to do — and something she now wants her son to experience too.

"I love that my son comes with me," she says. "I want him to grow up with the values that you help people. I want him to grow up helping his community.

By watching me help out from such a young age, I hope he grows up with those values because they are very important and they are beautiful."

A new beginning: Overcoming addiction and violence

Jamii’s struggles began after she left home at a young age.

"I had a wonderful family," she says. But after leaving home, her life took a difficult turn.

"I was in a relationship when I was too young and just couldn't cope with what was happening. I was in a very, very intense domestic violence relationship and I think that just led to more drug use. The more abuse there was, the more drugs I used."

As her addiction spiralled, Jamii lost all hope.

"I honestly never thought I'd ever make it to 30," Jamii says.

Jamii overcame addiction and has been drug-free for more than three years. She is now looking to the future with hope she once thought was beyond reach.

"I have now turned 32 and have this wonderful life and to have my son ... it's still a journey. There are still challenges, but the miracles the Lord has provided are amazing."

'I'm a drug user'

By the time Jamii first connected with The Salvation Army, shame and addiction had become her identity.

Jamii says it was Salvation Army officer (pastor and leader) Renata who first welcomed her and encouraged her. Jamii didn't hide the reality of what she had done to feed her addiction and confessed she could not see any way beyond it.

"Renata reminded me of something recently that I'd completely forgotten," Jamii says.

"When I first came into the Salvos, she asked me to tell her a bit about myself. I said, 'I'm a drug user.' That was my answer. She told me later it really stuck with her. But honestly, that's who I thought I was."

Jamii says the people at The Salvation Army kept drawing her back.

"No one judged me. Even though they knew where I was at, I was still respected. I was still a volunteer. They still welcomed me with open arms."

Watching the Christians around her also stirred something deeper.

"I looked up to these people and I wanted to have that love for God. I wanted to be like these beautiful Christian people. But for a long time, I just couldn't figure it out."

Experiencing God's grace

For a long time, Jamii prayed and asked God for a sign, including when she was readmitted to a mental health unit and felt like the challenges would never end.

"With all the drug use I'd had over the years, I didn't even think I'd be able to conceive. The one thing I'd wanted my entire life was to have children.

To me [finding out I was pregnant] was God's way of showing me that life can be good, that I could have a future. I just had to trust Him," she says.

Today, Jamii and her son pray together every night. They are also part of a local church.

Jamii says there were periods when she stopped coming, but says, "every time I came back I was welcomed with open arms, like nothing had happened. They knew it was a journey."

Christmas has taken on a completely different meaning for Jamii.

"I used to be the biggest Grinch. I used to hate Christmas," she laughs.

"But having a little one changes everything. Trying to teach him that Jesus died for us, that Christmas is a celebration of his birth and watching his eyes light up when we go to church and sing together. It is so, so special.

So is seeing people come together and share love. To me, love is what Christmas is about."

Her Wednesdays at the Salvos have also become an anchor in her life, not just because she loves to help others, but also because the connection fills her soul, especially now as a single mother.

"I'm a single mum and when I changed my life I had to cut a lot of people out of it, so I don't have a lot of friends. But just coming in every Wednesday morning, being greeted by people and having a conversation with people, it's so important and so special."

A hope worth sharing

Looking back, Jamii is deeply grateful for the people at the Salvos who walked alongside her.

"They didn't do it for me. I had to do the work. But having people in my corner — people like Renata who never judged me and never gave up on me — made all the difference.

It's not always rainbows and butterflies. I'm still trying to build a future. I'm probably a long way behind most other mums my age. But we're here. I'm alive. My son's healthy. There's hope," she says.

This Christmas, Jamii encourages anyone who feels far from faith or without hope to simply give church or another faith event ‘a go’.

"There's always hope. Even when you don't think there's hope, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Just going to a Salvos [or another church] you've never been to before, going out of your comfort zone ... give it a go," she says.

"You might not like it and that's fine, but you might love it. What have you got to lose?"