Weighed down by the past

This testimony was found on Yelp

Please whatever you do, do not send your daughter here. Many parents may say yes send your daughter here its the best place possible, but sadly it is not. Yes, i am a former student and i can say from experience this is not the place you want to send your child.

I was woken up at 3am being taken out of my bed by people i had never seen in my life, i was then put in handcuffs and shoved into a car to be taken 12 hours away from my home. I was so panicked and had no idea what was going on, they would not allow me to call my parents. I was promised a phone call as soon as i arrived to the school. I was then taken into the bathroom with the owner - Debbie Martin - and she then told me that i was not allowed to talk to my parents until i was there for a month and that i would be living there for a year or longer. I immediately broke down in tears, not to mention this woman was not sympathetic at all. She then told me i needed to take off all my clothes so she could check to see if i had anything on me.

That was just the beginning. I was terrified, i had no idea where i was or why i was even there. My parents are not together and had a custody agreement at the time, my mom was never notified as to where i was. The whole time i was at WOF i was told by the staff and Mrs. Debbie that my mom wanted nothing to do with me, come to find out that was all a lie. My mom looked for me that whole time i was gone and nobody would tell her where i was. These people made me feel like i was nothing, like if i didnt live by their standards that i was going straight to hell. We were taught to be housekeepers and thats all we were good for. We were never allowed to speak our minds or ever tell anybody how we were feeling. If you didnt have something to say about the bible then you were expected to keep your mouth quiet.

This place is a 24/7 lock down facility, which is not mentioned anywhere on their website. Your never allowed to be by yourself and somebody is always watching you. We were barely ever allowed to go outside and if we did it was maybe twice a month or to get on the bus to go to church. This place is not the place you want to send your daughter, so please dont. So many of the girls that i talk to suffer from depression, anxiety, and even ptsd. One of my close friends sadly passed away from a drug overdose after leaving this school. They make you feel like your nothing if you dont follow their rules and biblical standards, it makes you question every little detail about your life. Also, the schooling that they offer is not accepted in many states. I had no credits for my junior year of high school that would transfer, and i had to work very very hard to get through my senior year with the many credits that wouldnt transfer over.

So please please before you think about sending your daughter here, just read this and take my word as a former student. This place needs to be shut down, not have more students to put down on. I would never wish on a single person to be put through what my friends and i have been put through. Just please dont let this be your last resort for your daughter. Thank you.

More information

The facility used to go under the name "City of Refuge" but was renamed Wings of Faith Academy in order to avoid bad press.