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Counseling graduate plans recovery home for former prison inmates

Charleetra Hornes

This week, Charleetra Hornes traveled from her home near Atlanta to walk across the stage at Liberty University’s Commencement, an accomplishment that she thought was out of the realm of possibility less than a year ago.

In July 2021, Hornes, who at the time was pursuing a Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling through Liberty’s online programs, contracted COVID-19. Her body became septic and she was diagnosed with double pneumonia. Her condition was critical; due to the fluid build-up in her lungs, she was suffocating and was told she would likely die within days.

“This can’t be the end for me; this can’t be how it ends,” Hornes recalled thinking that day. “I was so sad.”

Hornes and her husband, Rodney, a 26-year U.S. Army veteran, frantically called a friend in Houston who had a background in respiratory therapy. He immediately advised Hornes to roll onto her stomach and begin deep breathing exercises.

“He told me no matter how much pain I was in to keep doing (the exercises),” she said. “I would stretch and breathe, and I just remember the tears would be rolling down my face because it was excruciating pain to actually inhale and exhale. It hurt so badly.”

Determined to live to see her 14-year-old son Raja grow up, Hornes fought through the severe lung pain and discomfort while remaining diligent in her breathing exercises for a couple of days.

“The nurse told me, ‘Whatever you’re doing, you keep doing it,’” Hornes said. “So I kept praying and kept moving and kept doing the exercises.”

Miraculously, Hornes left the hospital days after being admitted, weak but able to function.

Though tempted to hit pause on her educational pursuit because of the constant fatigue and brain fog that COVID-19 had left her in, Hornes persevered. With the help of a tutor and encouragement from her family, she completed her degree last month.

“It’s nothing shy of a miracle that I’m alive, so I had to come to Commencement because it’s such a great accomplishment,” she said. “I didn’t think that I was going to finish school.”

“I’m so excited and I’m so blessed,” she added. “This means so much, and this surpasses any type of emotion.”

Now, Hornes is looking forward to applying her degree through an avenue she is extremely passionate about: serving formerly incarcerated women. The interest stemmed from watching her father live an unhealthy lifestyle.

“My father was an alcoholic and he had some issues such as substance abuse and alcoholism for many years,” she said. “That’s how I originally got started on my journey down the road of getting into counseling. I wanted to find a way to give back and to help in his memory.”

Already having earned her undergraduate degree in psychology, Hornes enrolled with Liberty early in 2020 after hearing glowing reports of the school’s online program and its generous support of the military. Liberty offers several benefits to service members, veterans, and their family members studying on campus and online. Hornes is one of 2,539 military spouses in the Class of 2022. Overall, Liberty is celebrating 10,140 graduates in the military community.

At the end of this year, Hornes plans to open a 12-bed recovery home for women who have recently been released from prison and are hoping to start a new life. In years past, she volunteered in prisons to share her faith with inmates who were on their way to death row. Now, she wants to redirect those who have been given a second chance and help them gain a better understanding of who God made them to be.

Upon entering the home, residents will go on a 21-day course geared toward recovery and redemption. The home will also teach ways to live simply and give them practical ways to earn income. Her vision is to offer parenting, anger management, and substance abuse classes while also providing a garden where women can learn how to grow their own fruits and vegetables, a sand volleyball court for exercise, as well as a visiting flower garden for their friends and family.

“I have it all mapped out in my business plan, and I’m really excited about it,” she said. “I want to teach them how to be creative and use their creativity. We are born in His image, so we are all creators because He is the Creator.”

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