I was born here in Merced, the third oldest of seven children. Each of us has a different father, and I have never met mine. Even though we all have different fathers, all my siblings live locally, and our relations are good.
I attended Merced High until the beginning of my sophomore year when I decided to drop out and live the party life. I had a son, and, when he was four, I asked my mother to care for him because I began struggling with an addiction to crystal meth. This addiction lasted for the next couple of decades. During this time, I remained homeless, doing what I had to do to survive and support my addiction to meth. Along with being homeless and living a destructive life, I was arrested many times and spent a lot of time being incarcerated.
The last time I was released from incarceration, I wanted to get enrolled into a rehabilitation facility. However, it wasn’t until the judge ordered me into a rehab program that I enrolled.
After graduating, I was able to be admitted into a Merced County Rescue Mission’s Transition to Hope home where I am presently living and for which I am grateful.
I have since been employed by the Rescue Mission as a Site Coordinator for the Senior Living Well Café Program. I’ve also had the opportunity to have court fines dismissed through the Homeless Court Program because of the programming hours I had previously completed. I am now working on earning my high school diploma through the Phoenix Project, and, after graduating, I will begin my vocational training to be a substance abuse counselor through the CCAPP Academy. *
Where I’ve come from and where I am now could not have happened without the resources and assistance I’ve received from these programs that have been available to me. What I’ve learned and experienced on my journey is that succeeding in life is about making good choices that will result in being in a good state of mind so that I can serve others in the way I’ve been served. In doing so, many lives will be helped, healed and restored for the glory of God. I understand this well because my family, although decimated from my past choices, has been restored.
*CCAPP (California Consortium of Programs and Professionals) The CCAPP program is a 14-month, six hours a week course that includes a variety of classes which train participants in drug and alcohol addiction counseling. Following the successful completion of this program, participants must complete 4,000 hours of supervised work prior to receiving their accreditation.
