Tony is a 58 year old blacksmith. He grew up in the Midwest and has shoed race horses all over the world.
He has also been drinking and drugging since he was 13 years. Tony said in class this week that he had even mainlined Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey at times, trying to get his high on!
Tony was stranded in Baltimore some 5 months ago. Broke, busted and disgusted, he started walking along Route 40 in Baltimore during a rainstorm. A local pastor stopped and picked him up!
The pastor took Tony to his house, gave him a meal and helped he get cleaned up. Tony was tired, grateful and open for something better, so the pastor told him about a place he could go.
Tony was willing and the pastor drove him to Helping Up Mission for our homeless Overnight Guest Services. He gave Tony $10 and a word of encouragement.
Tony stayed the night and applied for our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program the next morning. He’s still here – 5 months later.
In class yesterday, Tony said this is the longest clean time he has had since he was 13. In fact he said, he’s been setting new daily records for clean time since the third day he was here!
Man, I love my job!
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director