Mary Clark

My husband, Randy and I relocated to Johnstown, Pennsylvania from Phoenix, Arizona in September of 1994.  I had three children from a previous marriage and Randy and I have one child together.  Prior to our move, I had been working in the legal field for eleven years and I loved it.

Our more to Johnstown was necessitated by my husband’s family business.  I was very reluctant to even consider leaving Phoenix, mainly because of my job.  On the other hand, I thought that my daughter, who had struggled with drug addiction for two years, would be able to start her life anew, so I finally acquiesced for her sake.  I didn’t know it at the time, but this was all part of God’s plan for our lives.

Less than a year after arriving in Johnstown I was hired as a church secretary for a local Methodist church.  The people in the congregation were very welcoming, and Randy and I began to form friendships with the Pastor and his wife, as well as several other people in the congregation.

Shortly after beginning my job, my daughter was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer.  My husband and I believed the cancer was a result of her drug abuse.  We felt that her drug use had destroyed her immune system and her body had no defense against the disease.  

I had always had a relationship with God, being raised in Catholic schools and attending church every Sunday, but it was definitely not the relationship it should be.  My daughter’s illness brought me closer to God, and I began a renewed and deeper relationship with him.

I worked for the church for approximately seven months before giving my notice.  A few months later my Father-in-law purchased a second business in Johnstown, and he asked my sister-in-law and I to run it.  My sister-in-law left the business for personal reasons a few months later.

Throughout this time I had been going back and forth to Pittsburg for my daughter’s treatments.  The friendships I had formed while working at the church were proving to be a great blessing from God.  I had a strong base of Christian support that I am sure God had been setting up all along.  My daughter was in remission, and doing well.  I was praising and thanking God.

In July of 1997, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted my daughter’s wish to go to Hawaii.  Shortly after returning from our trip she was re-diagnosed with cancer.  In October of 1997 we lost her.  I went back to work a week later and purposely became entrenched in my job.

One of the biggest bonuses of working in our family business was meeting a gentleman by the name of Larry Scott.  I can remember the way I felt when he told me that he worked at Peniel.  I don’t know if it was my own desire, or if it was divine intervention, but whatever it was, I felt I would some how, some way, some day be a part of Peniel.  The very thought appealed to my heart in ways that are difficult to describe.  Over the next few years, the thought of being even a small part of a place that healed the self-destructive behaviors associated with drug abuse that we had experienced with my daughter popped in and out of my mind on a regular basis.

In December of 2005, after running the family business for approximately eleven years, I gave my notice and began searching for another job.  I started a new job three weeks later; however, I knew it was not something that I would be doing for long. I began praying that God would find a position for me where I would feel I was helping others in some way.

In April of 2006, I went to see Dr. Spellman, the founder and CEO of Peniel, regarding a personal matter.  It was such a profound pleasure!  I have an enormous amount of respect for this incredible woman.  Peniel was born out of her own pain, the loss of her brother to drug addiction.  I felt such an immediate bond with her at the time of our meeting, and my desire to be part of Peniel became even greater.

I continued to pray that God would put me in a position where I would be able to help people in some way.  Several months later, while driving home from work, I yelled out loud to God and I told him how desperate I was to find a new job.  Shortly after arriving home that evening, I listened to my phone messages and there was a call from Dr. Spellman.  I was so excited; I called her back and she offered me a position at Peniel.  What an answer to prayer!  Needless to say, I accepted the position.

I feel honored and privileged to be working with Dr. Spellman, and everyone who is a part of Peniel.  At the time of this writing I have only been at Peniel for forty-seven days, but I am so impressed by what I have seen.  I have been moved to tears on several occasions by the testimonies of some of the students, students who were living the same life my daughter had lived.  The life we lived with her, a place that was filled with an unspeakable darkness and despair, and yet here before me are people whose broken lives are being put back together.  They have been given a second chance.  Listening to their stories about where they had been two months ago or six months ago, and seeing how far they have come, hearing the insight and knowledge they have gained, the life changing tools that have been imparted into their lives by God through the incredible staff is an indescribable joy for me.  I cannot say enough about the staff at Peniel, the level of love and care, the attention to every detail of each client’s life is unmatched.  I think of this staff as a healing rain that falls into the lives of these students who are battling and winning the life threatening disease that is addiction.

I don’t believe that I am at Peniel by mistake, I believe I am right where God wants me to be and I am ready to learn, grow, contribute and with God’s help be an integral part of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that is set apart.