Life Change Class of 2026: Bethany Short

After Bethany’s husband nearly killed her and went to prison, her young daughters were placed in foster care. Bethany began a frantic effort to be reunited, but when she couldn’t regain custody, she turned to drugs for the next 10 years.

Bethany found her way to the Eugene Mission and entered the women’s Life Change Program and began a journey of healing from abuse going back to her childhood. Bethany’s mom walked away from her family one day while they were at a campground, and Bethany was raised by various people who didn’t know how to love or care for her. By 13, she was already sneaking drugs and alcohol as a way to escape her feelings and her life.

When Bethany entered the program, she had to face helplessness, depression and harmful patterns she had been stuck in for years. Bethany has demonstrated incredible courage as she’s faced her trauma and has grown in wisdom, maturity and in her relationships with the other women in the program.

Bethany remembers a time when she cried all day because of the agony in her heart. Now, she fills up every room she enters with the soft light of joy.

Bethany is now working on obtaining her GED and her driver’s license, she is interviewing for jobs, and she has hope again for her future.

“God has been taking me down this healing road to recovery,” Bethany shared. “The joy in my heart is real; God really can turn everything we’ve been through into something beautiful.”