Hi!
I'm Brandy Shireman.
As Pastor John Stroup once told me, we need only faith and a burden to start something great. As someone who has professionally worked within both the local and national treatment landscapes for over a decade, I was constantly met with a lack of medical detoxification resources in the Southwest Missouri region when helping individuals and families who were struggling with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) in this area. I felt this burden multiply tenfold when my own family was impacted and went through a season of chronic relapses. I could not understand why our community had such a plethora of great programs for residential and long-term treatment (both medical and faith-based) but zero medical detoxification programs outside of our local hospitals; which are already working hard to deal with a myriad of other health crises, and often limited on their abilities to help as needed with SUD patients.
God placed this burden heavily on my heart in early 2022, but it wasn’t until the Fall of 2023 that I stepped out in faith, after accepting a challenge at my church’s women’s group, where we’d been discussing how to discern the voice of God. The challenge? To act on something we knew God had been nudging us towards and we hadn’t chosen obedience towards — within the next 24 hours. Although I knew instantly what it was that God wanted me to act on, I won’t lie, I still tried to avoid it. I prayed over it late that night and considered acting; only to ultimately choose hesitation once again and “call it a night” — sure that I had my wires crossed on His message. The very next morning I opened my devotional and it was on 1 Samuel 3:10, titled Will you Answer God’s Call? Several weeks later, here I am with honestly no true idea of how I’m to achieve this mission, other than doing what He’s asked me to do — stepping out in obedience and trusting Him to make a way.
Since answering His call, I have met with several trusted local contacts I have from my professional experience, who have all been working in this industry for 10+ years, either within the medical model or recovery ministry model; and all agree this is a great need for our community.
I feel confident that I know God’s voice very well by this season of my life, and I’m choosing to believe He will provide. Just as I feel confident (and slightly Esther-esque) looking back at the way He has shaped me for such a time and calling as this: having been raised by alcoholics in a home crippled with domestic violence, self-medicating from the age of 13 with alcohol and “escaping” as a 17-year-old into the military. Followed by the trauma of two tours to Iraq in one of the top combat roles as a truck driver. Then into another heavy season of self-medication through alcohol and marijuana, followed by pulling myself together after becoming a mom and working for the 13th Judicial Circuit Court Veterans Treatment Court. Then on to selling definitive drug testing for a national clinical laboratory to behavioral health programs and treatment centers across the state of Missouri, followed by working for multiple national SUD and mental health treatment centers on-call and bedside with individuals and families in times of crises to find appropriate programming to help them. And most recently, working as a consultant to help find quality providers for mental health and SUD programs across the nation — while seeing one of the people I love most fighting the spiritual battle for their life and trying to escape it all through alcohol.
If there is one thing I have learned wholeheartedly through this journey, it’s that we as humans cannot save one another — only Jesus saves! And when individuals are at the point where they require detoxification from substances, they need two things — compassionate medical care and Christ-centered truth. That’s why I strongly believe that our services must be both faith-based and medical.
While being called to launch this ministry, I have felt continually drawn to Psalm 31:14 and Romans 8:28. Through every season of my life, I can now see how God was preparing me for this calling. As a veteran and healthcare professional, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact addiction has on individuals, families, and entire communities. I have also witnessed the incredible transformation that can occur when people are met with compassion, truth, and the right support at the right time.
Stand Firm Wellness Center was born from a simple conviction: that those struggling with substance use deserve access to safe medical care, unwavering dignity, and the hope found in Christ. While I cannot build this alone, I trust that God will continue to provide the people, partnerships, and resources needed to bring this vision to life. If this mission resonates with you, I invite you to join us as we work together to bring hope, healing, and freedom to Southwest Missouri!