“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all.”
Acts 4:33
Melody, a mom, grandmother, devoted friend, and successful businesswoman, grew up on the original Embrace campus in Selma. She credits the love and guidance of her caretaker, Louis Porter, and her house parents, Dot and Hugh Busby, for instilling in her a deep, abiding sense of faith, grace, and resilience by sharing the love of Jesus with her as a child during her formative years.
Melody recently shared an experience that happened when she was a young girl in Selma on the campus. She waited daily to see her half-brother, only to learn he had been taken back by their mother—while she remained behind. Ms. Porter, unable to soften the painful truth, brought Melody into the kitchen. She taught her to make biscuits, showing that you can share the love of Christ through simple acts of comfort. This experience taught Melody that small, tangible actions such as baking, reading together, or taking walks can bring solace in life's hardest moments.
Today, Melody honors those who shaped her by supporting Embrace's mission of providing homes, healing and hope. When words fail, she encourages others to offer comfort through meaningful gestures—like making a warm pan of biscuits. Please enjoy Ms. Porter's biscuit recipe enclosed, a simple way to ease a heavy heart, nourish the hungry or share kindness with a friend.
Many people take day-to-day experiences for granted: having a warm bed, a hot meal, a refreshing shower. However, for children and teens whose life has been disrupted, these experiences are luxuries to treasure.
Meredith Contreras, who entered the Embrace Higher Education home in Florence, Ala., in 2013, said the stability of the home life she experienced in college was one of the greatest advantages of participation.
One of the main things people might not even consider as a benefit of living in the Higher Ed home –stable living, sleeping in a bed every night, having lights and electricity – these were things I hadn’t really experienced,” she said. “We had meals every day. We had a house and reliable transportation.” Those comforts of home gave Meredith the support and encouragement she needed to complete a Bachelor of Business and administration (BBA) at the University of North Alabama, making her the first graduate of the Embrace Higher Ed Program.