You Are Not Alone

My Message to You

My name is Teah Hood, and I’m the founder of the Purpose From Pain Project.
Before anything else, I want you to know this: if you are hurting, scared, or standing in the middle of an impossible decision… you are not alone. I’ve been there in ways most people never see.

I didn’t grow up with the kind of childhood that gives you a foundation. My mother battled addiction my entire life, and my biological father surrendered his rights when I was born. From a very young age, I had to raise myself—and many times, my siblings too. Chaos, survival, and constant fear were my normal.

Because of that broken foundation, I entered a relationship that mirrored everything I had grown up in. It was traumatic, unhealthy, and dangerous, but it felt familiar because it was all I had ever known.

In the middle of those dark years, I became a mother multiple times. With no safety, no support, and no way out, I found myself facing choices that no young woman or mother should ever have to face. And as heartbreaking as it was, I made the most loving and courageous decision I could at the time: I chose open adoption for some of my children.

I want to be very clear —
this was not a decision made out of abandonment.
This was a decision made out of love, protection, and survival.

Today, I have the blessing of staying connected with the children and their adoptive family. We share a beautiful, open relationship, full of gratitude and respect. But I won’t pretend it’s easy. Every visit, every hug, every goodbye carries a weight that is hard to describe. A few days ago, I had one of the hardest emotional moments of my life — a moment where grief, love, and trauma collided all at once.

But in that moment, something shifted.
Something awakened.

I heard God speak to my heart and remind me that nothing I walked through was wasted. That the pain I carried for years wasn’t meant to crush me — it was meant to become purpose.

And that’s why the Purpose From Pain Project exists.

I feel called to reach young women who feel scared, alone, unsupported, or judged. I want to look them in the eyes and say:

“You matter.
You are not ruined.
You are not stuck.
You have options.
And God can take even your most painful chapter and turn it into something beautiful.”

My mission is simple:
To give voice to the hurt.
Hope to the afraid.
And clarity to the ones who feel completely alone.

Because when pain speaks, purpose awakens.
And my deepest prayer is that my story helps someone else find the courage to step toward hope instead of fear.