Living Free Participants Overcome Addiction and Move Towards Healthier Life

Sixty men and women were honored tonight after graduating from the Living Free program

FARGO, N.D. —Overcoming addiction is no simple feat. That’s why Living Free, a faith-based group in the F-M area, is honoring those moving towards a healthier life.

Living Free has worked with 20 different churches in the metro. The goal is to guide those people struggling with addiction back to their faith. Sixty men and women were honored tonight at the Dakota Medical Foundation. They are graduating from the Living Free program, sharing their stories, and explaining what their lives would have been like had it not been for the non-profit.

“It took everything away from me in a matter of minutes it seems like,” Misty Gibree, a Living Free participant said. “There’s a point where you just decide you don’t want to do it anymore but you keep doing it. It’s that point when you realize, ‘Oh my gosh I have a problem and I don’t know how to fix it.'”

“I did Meth,” Shawn Gibree, another Living Free participant added. “I disconnected from my whole family. I have five kids and I gave my kids to my mother-in-law. I almost lost my house.”

This was Shawn and Misty’s reality before turning to Living Free, a small group program that encourages participants to turn to God rather than the things they were addicted to.

“The insight group that I completed was about life controlling problems, whether it’s control issues or overeating or smoking cigarettes or doing drugs,” Misty said. “Everybody has something and it unified us all together.”

Now the duo says Living Free and their faith has completely turned their lives around.

“There were times when I wanted to die and I can’t believe it now because there’s so much life to live,” Misty said. “Turn to God, turn to somebody you trust, come to Living Free, go to church, ask somebody for help. There’s so much help out there.”

“It’s something about when you go to jail, you have nothing and you’re at the worst you can possibly be and somebody comes in there gives you a free bible and tells you that someone cares about you,” Shawn said. “That does so much for a person that someone who’s never been arrested can never understand.”

After tonight’s graduation both Misty and Shawn are hoping to facilitate future groups to help others struggling with similar addictions.