There’s a reason I’m alive, and I’m grateful
Only a child when his father died, Michael turned to the streets for the fatherly guidance he lacked growing up. “I felt so lost and broken. Addiction took over my life.”
Michael was born 10th of 11 children in his family, and his needs often went unmet because of it. Things only got worse when his father died, and Michael was too young to understand and process the grief that came with such a loss. “I began acting out to get attention,” he remembers. “I would get in trouble on purpose just to be noticed.”
As a teen, he continued to struggle with his grief. As his mother turned to alcohol to numb her own pain, Michael found himself without any parental guidance. He was surrounded by friends who encouraged him to use alcohol and drugs to escape his grief. “I swore up and down I’d never be a drinker and never do drugs, but then in my teens I completely caved to the peer pressure. I just started doing what I saw everyone else doing.”
Michael’s life spiraled downward, and he eventually wound up in jail. He found himself at rock bottom, knowing that he had to make a change.“I felt so lost and broken. Addiction took over my life. The drugs and the drinking and all my bad choices… together they took everything I had and stripped me completely down. I realized I had to take my life back.”
“I needed so much, and I received it all. Clothes, food, good sleep, and a chance to feel calm.”
Desperate for the chance to start over, Michael contacted Wheeler Mission from prison. “I wrote that my life was completely turned upside down,” he says, “and I had nowhere else to turn to.”
After his release, he was welcomed into our recovery program, and he found the second chance he had been longing for. “When I arrived at Wheeler Mission, I wasn’t the best version of myself… but everyone was still kind.”
Through a Christ-centered approach, the Foundations and Path to Success programs gave Michael the support he needed as he worked to turn his life around. Even at his lowest, Michael believed in God, but at Wheeler Mission he was able to nurture a relationship with Him. “Spiritually I was wavering, my faith wasn’t always strong. But I know now that Jesus is always with me, and I can always talk to Him, and let him know when I need help.”
Being in a community of fellow believers who share his goal of building new lives and new futures has also helped Michael overcome the pain of his past. “The community here showed me what it means to be responsible to myself and to others. Understanding how my choices impact the people I love has been so important… I don’t want to keep making the same mistakes.”
Michael is grateful for YOU and your incredible generosity. Your prayers and support have helped change his life. “With God’s blessings, I know I don’t have to go back on the streets. There’s a reason I’m alive, and I’m grateful to Wheeler Mission for helping me realize that!”
