He wasn’t happy about joining our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program and didn’t really make much of an effort to change anything!
But Jimmy was a guy who needed lots of help. His father told me that Jimmy had never finished anything in his life…except a jail sentence!
So Jimmy stayed — probably because he had nowhere else to go. He’d show up in class every day and, slowly, things began to sink in.
Then, one day, the light just seemed to turn on! Jimmy changed his thinking and attitudes — and his life began changing, too.
He didn’t have his high school diploma when he arrived here — but he had it when he graduated from our program one year later! He’d also earned a certificate of completion in customer service training from Business Interface.
But Jimmy never had a job that wasn’t “under the table” and, when he moved back home after graduation, I never really knew what happened to him.
Yesterday he showed up in my classroom — not as a client, but as an intern trainee Peer Recovery Specialist! Jimmy works in one of our local hospitals and has been doing so the past five years. He started this training at the hospital last year.
It was great hearing him tell his story to the guys in my class. It’ll be great seeing him around here helping other guys “see the light,” too.
I really do love my job!
One Day at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director