As I was going in the back door of my office building here on campus, a cab drove by, honked and then backed up. Local residents frequently call cabs, so it wasn’t unusual in our neighborhood.
But the driver backed up to where I was and rolled down the window. It was Gregory, 55 years old and a ’15 graduate of our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program.
He arrived here 15 months ago pretty beat up by his own heroin addiction. Generally quiet — at least until he gets comfortable with someone — Gregory just did his recovery work every day.
One day we talked about his plans for the future and I was actually surprised to hear there were some!
So when he stopped the cab to say hi, Gregory had a big smile on his face and said, “I finally got my license back — after 24 years!” That was the initial step in his plan.
He rents the cab and has 25-hour access to it. His work history has generally involved driving, including once owning his own company — so this cab driving gig is the next step to getting back and established in his line of work.
Gregory still lives on our campus in Graduate Transitional Housing and will stay here until he gets things to the place where he’s comfortable in taking that step, too.
He does understand how this works — now all he has to do is live it…
…One Day at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director