Our Founder

CYNTHIA MARLOW-FOSTER

My Story of Recovery, Faith, Purpose, and Hope

My name is Cynthia Marlow-Foster, and my story is one of pain, addiction, recovery, faith, and purpose.

I was raised in a dysfunctional family where we loved to party, but we also went to church. At the age of four, I was introduced to moonshine. When I was six years old, my father gave my sister and me marijuana. At eight years old, I experienced sexual abuse by a person who was close to my family. Then, at the age of ten, I lost my father in a jail fire in Maury County in 1977.

After losing my father and experiencing trauma at such a young age, I began searching for love in all the wrong places. I tried to fill the emptiness and the hole in my heart with people, relationships, and things.

At thirteen years old, I became pregnant with my first child. By the age of sixteen and a half, I had three beautiful children and was a single mother. I not only raised my own children, but I also helped raise my sister Beverly and her children because Beverly had a disability that prevented her from caring for herself.

At the age of eighteen, my life with drugs took off. My addiction eventually took me in and out of jails, from place to place and from state to state. I walked away from my three beautiful children because of the pain and destruction caused by my addiction.

For 28 years, I struggled with addiction. I experienced homelessness and lived on the streets. There were times when I did not have food to eat or even take a bath. There were days when I did not communicate with my children or my family. I went to approximately 15 treatment centers, trying to get clean, only to leave and return to the streets and my addiction.

Then came August 30, 2004.

My baby girl, Deperica, and my cousin came to a trap house to get me. They took me to a two-year program in Nashville called Magdalene House, which is known today as Thistle Farms.

Entering that program changed my life.

For the first time, I began dealing with my trauma and discovering purpose again. I was surrounded by women who had experienced struggles similar to mine, and I began to understand that my life still had value.

While I was in the program, I had a dream in which God spoke to me. He told me that He wasn't cleaning me up just for me. He called me by my real name: Cynthia.

At first, I argued with God.

I told Him, "I'm not smart enough. I don't have a degree. I don't have money."

I ran from what I believed God was calling me to do for four years. Eventually, I realized that I needed to become obedient and trust the purpose He had placed inside of me.

I began opening my first house in Nashville to help others.

But there is another important part of my story.

I met the love of my life, Patrick Foster, when I had been clean for only six days. He stood beside me and waited for me while I completed my two-year program. In 2006, we got married.

In 2011, Merited Favor Safe House was born.

My husband and I have continued to fund and support this program, often without having the financial resources that we needed. Today, Merited Favor Safe House is dedicated to helping people who are struggling with homelessness, addiction, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.

We are seeking sponsors, monetary donations, volunteers, and community partners who believe in giving people another chance.

Today, I am blessed to be married to my loving husband, Patrick Foster. I have my three beautiful children—Antionio, Bethany, and Deperica—and 11 grandchildren.

I am also a certified MRT Facilitator, WRAP I and WRAP II Facilitator, and CPRS. I have been in recovery for 22 years, and I am grateful every day for the life God has given me.

I know what it feels like to be broken.

I know what it feels like to be homeless, hungry, addicted, and separated from the people you love.

But I also know what it feels like to find hope again.

That is why I do what I do.

My passion is to give hope to others and help them understand that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Your past does not have to determine your future. Addiction does not have to be the end of your story.

I am living proof that a person can come from a place of pain and find purpose.

I love what I do because I know that my story can help somebody else believe that they can make it, too.

— Cynthia Marlow-Foster

Founder, Merited Favor Safe House