Makaela’s Testimony – Teen Challenge New Lifehouse

I was sent to Teen Challenge at 15 for smoking weed ONCE and having a boyfriend that my newly adopted parents didn’t approve of.

From the very first day, I was isolated from all of the other girls. I wasn’t allowed to speak or interact with anyone for my first two weeks there. I was punished for showing any real emotion, as we’re the other girls. Which is insanely cruel considering we were going through puberty and living with up to 23 other hormonal girls in one house.

I’ve always been a very vocal person and the staff members tried so hard to break me down until I would comply with their “godly” ways.

The program was supposed to be 12 months long. I was held there for 23 months. They finally kicked me out and sent me home; I wasn’t able to complete high school because of this. I was brainwashed and neglected under the guise that they were trying to help me stop sinning and turn to God. Myself and countless other girls that I lived with left with extreme PTSD and trauma, and most of us turned to the exact life that they tried to keep us from to cope. I wouldn’t wish the things we went through on my worst enemy. I still have nightmares. The mental, emotional, verbal, and sometimes even physical abuse was a daily occurrence.

It would take years for me to write down all of the things that I went through there. If people only knew what they put me through, they would shut Teen Challenge down forever.