By Briana Harris / Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM – At Oak Mountain Missions Ministries’ 10^th annual Harvest of Hope Luncheon on Sept. 13, Lori Hubert shared with the audience how Oak Mountain Missions played a part in helping her let go of a life filled with heartache and addiction and embrace one full of love and hope for the future.

Born in Birmingham to addicts, Hubert lived in 11 foster homes before being adopted by her grandmother at eight years old.

“I can’t really remember a single one (foster home) because I was never there for long,” she said.

After being adopted, she moved to Georgia to live with her grandmother. As an adolescent, she began drinking at an early age and eventually ended up in a juvenile detention center. A few years down the line, her drug habits landed her in prison more than once.

“When you grow up in a toxic environment, you become that,” she said.

After a couple of stints in prison and escaping an abusive relationship, from which she had a daughter named Ruby, Hubert and her daughter moved back to Alabama to live with her biological mother, who had been sober from crack cocaine for five years.

At the time, Hubert didn’t know that her biological mother was still smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol heavily. Hubert and her daughter had been living with her biological mother for a few months when she became homesick and wanted to move back to Georgia.

“My mom didn’t like that. She didn’t want me to leave,” Hubert said. “One day after she’d been drinking we got into a physical altercation and the police came. Since my daughter was there at the time of the altercation, DHR took her.”

Hubert said having her daughter taken away from her was one of the lowest points in her life and she became determined to get her back.

“I didn’t want her to grow up like I did,” she said. “Someone suggested that I call Safe House and I decided to check it out. I was skeptical at first because I was thinking, ‘Is this going to be like prison?’

“Nobody pressured me into staying. They told me to just stick around for a week and if I didn’t like it I could leave.”

Hubert ended up staying at Safe House of Shelby County and she got a job at a local McDonald’s. For eight months she walked back and forth to work because she didn’t have a car.

“In the rain, late at night, at 5 a.m. in the morning – I did that for eight months,” she said.

She quickly received promotion after promotion and is now the general manager of that McDonald’s. Safe House referred her to Oak Mountain Missions to help get clothing, shoes and furniture for her and her daughter. The Mission also provided her with financial assistance until she got on her feet. She now has her daughter back and is working toward another promotion.

Hubert said she went from feeling worthless, unwanted and not caring if she died to knowing that there are kind people in the world who love her and want to help her.

“Safe House and Oak Mountain Missions completely changed my life,” she said. “It is absolutely amazing what you all are doing for people like me.

“I will always be an addict, that blood will always run through me, but I’m also a mother and that blood runs through me too, and if you ask me that is much more powerful.”

About 500 people attended the luncheon, which also featured a silent auction, at The Club on Robert S. Smith Drive in Birmingham. Janet Hall, a broadcaster for Fox 6 News was the mistress of ceremonies. The guest speaker was Phyllis Hoffman DePiano, president of Hoffman Media and the Wilson Hill Band provided musical entertainment.

The luncheon was free to attend, but guests were asked to make a donation to the mission. One-third of the mission’s budget is generated by the event. The proceeds help provide food, clothes, furniture or financial assistance to those in need. In 2015, the mission helped nearly 6,000 people.

As a part of its back to school program, the mission donated backpacks and school supplies to about 100 families referred by local schools and the Department of Human Resources.

For more information about the mission or to seek help, go to oakmtnmissions.com.