I was born here in Merced, the third of four. My parents divorced when I was a baby, and I didn’t meet my father until I was around thirteen. When I was 15, my mother and stepdad moved us to Los Banos, and it was then that I dropped out of school to go to work. At the age of seventeen, I began to use crystal meth which took me down a path of destruction that went on for longer than I expected.
At eighteen I was arrested for possession of an illegal substance and spent a week in jail. After my release, I didn’t change my ways, but instead I ran headlong into my debauchery. My attitude was that I wouldn’t listen to anyone trying to help me, and that led to me being arrested at nineteen and given a four-year sentence. Upon my release and for the next decade, I spent more time in prison than I did outside of prison. During that time, eighty-two days was the longest time in between my prison terms.
In 2010 I was released from incarceration for the last time. I found a job in Los Banos, and within two years I was promoted to a supervisor position. I was doing well. Unfortunately, in 2015, I relapsed.
While in my addiction, I was in a horrific motorcycle accident which resulted in sixty-one broken bones and losing most of my teeth. Roughly forty percent of my skin was lost due to sliding two hundred yards on the road. I was transported to Davis Medical Center where I spent two and a half months recuperating. Upon my release and with nowhere to go, I became homeless for the next six years, doing what I could to survive and support my addiction. I knew I needed help and change.
In 2022, with my mother needing someone to care for her, I decided to move in with my mother and cared for her until her passing three years later. It was during this time with my mother that I began listening to Christian broadcasting. I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, and it was also during this time that my mother and I were baptized on the same night during a Celebrate Recovery meeting at Yosemite Church.
My life was turned around, and in 2023 I began working at the Merced County Rescue Mission. I started at the Sobering Center as a peer support person for six months before being offered a position at the Respite Care facility in Los Banos as the Service Coordinator. I now work as the Program Manager there, which I truly love doing. Helping people in their homelessness and with their physical needs reminds me of the help I was given, and for that I will continue to serve our community in this capacity. Thank you, my LORD and Merced County Rescue Mission, for this amazing opportunity.
