This is What
Success Looks Like

Life just happened. Shannon Diaz has no real answer other than that for the dark place she found herself in not too long ago. And that life, to put it mildly, was certainly not kind.

“I saw myself as a poor little white girl from a trailer who would never amount to anything,” she says. She had an eighth-grade education and a heroin addiction that lasted for eight years. Eventually, she became a single mom with three kids, living in a drug-infested hotel. “Many times, I saw no way out of my situation other than suicide,” Shannon recalls. She tried to enroll in an in-patient rehab facility, but it was during COVID and no one was getting in.

“I lost my kids. I lost my self-respect. I was just lost,” she explains.

Then Shannon met a woman with the prophetic name of Hope who would become her advocate and mentor. It was Hope who, literally and figuratively, led her to Matthew’s Hope. For the first time in a long time, Shannon saw the tiniest sliver of light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.

Not only did Matthew’s Hope give her support, but it also helped her learn new ways of thinking to make the changes in her life she needed to make. What she learned from Hope and Matthew’s Hope took strength and stubborn persistence she didn’t know she had. “All of my learning was through hands-on experiences. And Matthew’s Hope understood what a learning curve it would be for me to go from my eighth-grade education to now managing people and situations,” she says. Today, Shannon is certified as a Trauma Informed Care Practitioner and earned her certificate for Best Practices Outreach. “I learned so much at Matthew’s Hope,” she says.

One pivotal moment was when she quit her job to rely instead on the Matthew’s Hope points.

“We sat down and compared what I made cleaning houses with my mom to my earnings doing things the Matthew’s Hope way. I learned right then it was time for me to try something bigger and better,” Shannon reflects.

But the learning curve for Shannon was not a smooth one. She planned on leaving more than once. But the support she got, for the first time in her life, convinced her to stay. “Matthew’s Hope wanted nothing from me other than for me to succeed. I learned that they loved me, even when I failed. And that was key.”

Shannon’s background makes her uniquely qualified to recognize people who are struggling the ways she used to. “I see them come into Matthew’s Hope as desperate as I was. Out of choices. I tell them this is their last door. I can be pretty direct,” she says.  “Then you see the lightbulb go off right in front of you. I hold those moments so near and dear.”

Today, Shannon is the Director of Orange County for Matthew’s Hope. She has her GED and is involved with Young Leadership of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce. She owns her own home and has a happy marriage.

“I actually feel content. And for a girl like me, it’s a weird feeling. I’m content with my life, job, home, and marriage,” Shannon says. “I want to help as many people as I can. I want to continue to challenge myself and keep learning and growing.”