Disqualified? Not in God's Eyes: Dr. Sandra Perez-Dalton's Journey from Addiction to Restoration!Disqualified? Not in God's Eyes: Dr. Sandra Perez-Dalton's Journey from Addiction to Restoration!
Anchored by the Sword
Dr. Sandra Perez-Dalton shares her journey through crack addiction, jail, overdose and loss towards faith, purpose and long-term service to women and children. The conversation focuses on shame, identity and why past mistakes do not have to cancel a person’s calling.
36:29•5 Jun 2026
From Crack Addiction to Calling: Dr. Sandra Perez-Dalton Refuses to Stay Disqualified
Episode Overview
- Addiction can begin with one choice, but recovery is made up of many choices over years, not an instant fix.
- Spiritual experiences and faith can bring deep inner freedom, even while external circumstances are still broken.
- Leaving old environments and relationships is often crucial to protecting early recovery.
- Past labels such as addict, inmate or divorced do not erase a person’s value, calling or ability to lead.
- Women benefit from honest, unpolished stories that show survival, resilience and restoration are possible.
“My story is proof that disqualification is often the birthplace for divine assignment.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Gina Fox and Dr. Sandra Perez-Dalton offers a raw, faith-filled look at addiction, survival, and second chances. Dr. Sandra shares how a bright, achievement-focused teenager slid into an 11-year crack cocaine addiction after trying the drug with her partner.
She talks plainly about selling drugs, losing custody of her children, multiple jail terms, and even being told she had died during an overdose: people were preparing to dump her body in a river before she suddenly came round.
Her words cut through any glamour around substance use as she describes drugs as "false freedom, false euphoria, false joy and happiness." A turning point came in a jail Bible study, where she says she felt an intense emptiness, raised her hand, and invited Jesus into her life while still in an orange jumpsuit. That spiritual shift didn’t instantly fix everything; Sandra is honest about relapses, suicide attempts, and the long, messy work of change.
But a Christian recovery programme in Chicago in 1999 eventually led her to her lifelong calling: supporting women coming out of addiction, abuse, domestic violence, and trauma. Now founder and CEO of Restore Her Place in Southern California, Sandra has spent over two decades running transitional housing and ministry for at-risk women and children. Her book, *Disqualified: From Rock Bottom to Restoration*, tackles the lie that divorce, addiction, incarceration, or failure make someone unusable to God.
As she puts it, "My story is proof that disqualification is often the birthplace for divine assignment." You’ll hear candid talk on shame, identity, grief, and why women are tired of "polished perfection" and crave honesty. If you’re feeling like your past has written you off, this story might have you asking: what if you’re not disqualified at all, but just getting started?
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