Back to God!
Brian’s early life was marked by pain and instability. His father, an alcoholic and often absent due to military service, left a void that Brian tried to fill through gangs, drugs, and what he thought was belonging. “Everyone around me was in a gang,” Brian shared. “It felt like the only family I had.”
That path led him into years of substance abuse—starting with alcohol and marijuana, then escalating to cocaine and crack. With each relapse, each broken relationship, and each lost opportunity, Brian slipped further into hopelessness. “Ultimately, it was drugs that led me to homelessness,” he said. “But it was also about going against God’s word… I had no direction.”
"When I walked through the doors, I felt relief."
Though he cried out to God in moments of crisis, Brian admits he wasn’t ready to surrender. “I said those ‘foxhole prayers,’” he recalled. “But every time I got back on my feet, I went right back to what I knew.”
Everything changed the night he slept under an overpass. Cold, broken, and alone, Brian finally realized he couldn’t fix his life on his own. “I’d tried for 40-something years. I needed someone else to drive.”
That someone was God.
After reaching out to contacts at Wheeler Mission, Brian was brought into the program once again—this time with a renewed willingness to surrender. “When I walked through those doors, I felt relief. I knew what Wheeler had done for others, especially in helping guys reconnect with God.”
Brian is now a Servant Leader in Training (SLT), helping other men just like him find their footing. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to communicate in a godly way,” he said. “To meet people where they are and share what I’ve gone through. I used to never care. Now I do.”
Through Wheeler’s faith-based approach, Brian is learning how to forgive himself, leave his past behind, and step into his God-given purpose. “Before I came to the Mission, I was lost—ready to give up. Now, I have peace. I have God back in my life. And I’m not who I used to be.”
Looking ahead, Brian dreams of opening a faith-based welding shop that supports veterans. It’s a vision rooted in gratitude and service—two things he’s rediscovered at Wheeler.
Watch Brian’s story here: Watch Video
