MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — It's out with the old and in with the new. That’s old habits and new opportunities, which is exactly what the Shepherd's House in Mount Airy did for a former client who was recently promoted to case manager.

What You Need To Know

  • Destiny Bottoms used to be a client at the Shepherd's House and is now a case manager

  • The Shepherd's House in Mount Airy just moved from an 18-bed to a 64-bed facility

  • With the help of the Shepherd's House, Bottoms was able to get full custody of her son back

“Right now we’re in the process of transitioning from our old shelter to our new one,” Destiny Bottoms said.

Bottoms was born and raised up the road in Walnut Cove, but it’s in fictional Mayberry that she found her new beginning.

"I got to rebuild my life right here, and I get to share the joy of rebuilding others' lives in the bigger house now,” Bottoms said.

For nine months, Bottoms spent her time cleaning up her act and kicking drugs to the curb for one little human that gave her a second chance at being a mother.

She says her son, Abel Jeffrey McBride, is also her saving grace. Once Bottoms found out she was pregnant again, she knew she had to get away from the active drug users in her life if she wanted to keep her little boy, which is where the Shepherd's House came in.

Through her experience, Bottoms wishes to bring hope to others in similar situations.

“If I catch that mom going to the restroom at night or kind of getting settled in, I’ll stop her and kind of pull her off to the side and introduce myself and say I get it, I know where you’re coming from,” Bottoms said.

The program works “if you just put the effort in,” Bottoms said.

Abel grew up in and around the Shepherd's House, so those who work and volunteer there are like family to him.

“This little boy acts like he runs the place when he comes to visit. He says, 'I want to go to the Shepherd's House mommy,'” Bottoms said.

While the Sheperd’s House is moving a few hundred feet away, there’s one thing that remains a constant reminder for Destiny, and it has to do with Mayberry.

“Looking out the windows was one of my things at the shelter because I always got the view of the Andy Griffith Playhouse, and I would be washing dishes a lot of the time and looking at everybody taking pictures with the Andy Griffith statue and I just thought how simple life was for them to be touring the playhouse and all that,” Bottoms said.

Griffith represents something else entirely to the tourist town, but to Destiny he represents hope. It's something she wants to help with for the incoming 64 residents to the new Shepherd's House.

“What’s going to give them hope and motivation while they're here?” Bottoms said.