KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Elizabeth Gooch is a Care Coordinator at Serenity Ministries who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social work Friday morning, but not long ago, she said she was battling with addiction.

Gooch spoke with WATE in an interview on Thursday. She explained that before she arrived at Serenity Ministries, she had been using drugs on and off since high school and came from a broken family.

“My parents were separated, divorced. My father was incarcerated. My mother struggled with addiction our whole lives and did the best she could with four children,” Gooch said. “We were living in Knoxville, so in high school, I started using and battled with addiction. Got clean in 2020. My family actually had heard of Serenity through a Stephen minister, and she told my little sister about it and I eventually got to a point where there were really no other options for me. I wound up in jail, with time to serve in jail, or they gave me the option to seek help and I finally made the decision to get help and come to something long-term.”

To enter Serenity’s program, Gooch first had to complete a 30-day program to detox in 2020. During that time, she said another person in the program tested positive for COVID-19. Because not much was known about the virus at that time, she said many of those in the program left.

“I was like, ‘I can’t. I gotta stick it out,’ you know? ‘I gotta do this like I got it. I gotta get clean,” she explained. “I wanted it that bad that nothing was gonna run me out of here and just I didn’t give any reason. COVID could have been a reason – I could have been like, ‘No, this is a deadly disease and virus. And I’m not going to stick here with, stay here with you all through this.'”

After completing that program, Gooch arrived at Serenity. She said she was not sure about staying for the full program, but she was going to give it a week. Gooch added that she did not know what was going to be different about her attempt to get clean in this program, but she later found that answer in her faith.

“I think what I was missing this whole time was the Lord and his love,” Gooch said. “There is no way I would be walking the stage at the University of Tennessee tomorrow if it wasn’t for the Lord, there’s absolutely no way. I came into serenity with two Kroger bags, two plastic bags of items, maybe a toothbrush I got from the rehab and a pair of shorts.”

Through taking classes while in the Serenity Ministry and, eventually enrolling in at the University of Tennessee, Gooch said she found her purpose: giving back and helping those going through what she has been through.

“Since I could remember, it’s just dark and just no life and I got to a point where I was just… I was just existing. I was not living. Just strung out. Hopeless. Broken, broken, broken. And now, I’m at a place where I can share life with another person where I could, where I can speak to them and meet them exactly where they are.” Gooch said.

Through her journey of battling addiction, Gooch said she lost her family’s trust, and custody of her now 5-year-old son. Now, she’s been able to reconnect with her family, who loved her from afar as she worked on herself, and build a relationship with her son.

Friday morning, Gooch graduated from UT with her bachelor’s degree in social work. She said after that, she will be starting graduate school at UT.

To anyone who may be struggling with addiction, Gooch shared a simple message: There is a way out.

“Just call and there’s a way out. You’re not too far gone,” she said. “You can start the process of healing because there’s a reason you’re going through what you’re going through.”

Serenity Ministries is an 18-month biblically-based residential program offered through Knox Area Rescue Ministries for women in crisis seeking a safe place of rescue, recovery and restoration. To learn more about Serenity ministries, click here.