Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2551

Tonight's special guest is Angelena Cortello from Orleans, Louisiana. Angelena is the author of two books available on Amazon: 'Angel: the True Story of An Undeserved Chance' and 'Healing Letters: A 140 Day Journey to Healthy Living'. As she grew up, her mom abandoned her to her conservative and religious father in Miami. Her dad's wife was very verbally abusive, and had a mental illness that caused her to go into rages for minute reasons. Angelena began doing drugs in high school, and began prostituting herself out to maintain an addiction to crack. "My life was insane," she says, "and I believed what I was doing was all I was capable of doing." She continues, "As my addiction progressed, I began prostituting myself out to maintain my addiction to crack. I ended up in a situation where I was conned into working with a lady who had many clients. When I got clean, I found out I was HIV+ and have Hepatitis B. I have been blessed that my health has remained good. I made the decision that I wanted to make a difference with my life. I am presently working on my 3rd book and on the committee for another Recovery Convention. I sponsor people in a 12-step program. I blog on an HIV website. I also started an HIV support group through zoom when COVID started. There are HIV+ people from all over that come on." Anfgelena's a winner. "“My dreams and more have come true. God has given me an opportunity to not only change, but build my self-esteem and reveal that I could do good things with my life. The healing has been a process. Where I am at today in my life has me full of gratitude.”