Donald
“Grace … I am covered in it, because I should’ve been dead a long time ago.”
The son of an alcoholic mother, Donald began drinking at age 9. Drinking eventually led to a crack cocaine addiction, jail and homelessness.
As Donald tells it, “I was just existing. I had no interest in love or play or work or home … nothing. I just wanted to stay high.”
“The Salvation Army was the only place I had left to turn to. I went there undisciplined, minimally educated, no coping skills, no sense of who I was … and I just had no hope.”
At The Salvation Army, Donald first learned simple things – “bathing, changing clothes, shaving … a lot of the things people take for granted.”
That structure, along with the counseling he received, made an enormous impact on Donald’s life.
“It’s been a great experience on a daily basis to learn some new values, some new beliefs, some new principles to live by … becoming more self-aware. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to be alive today … to be free from addiction … to be free from the obsessions and their compulsions.”
Life is good. And as far as the future is concerned, Donald says, “I just know that today is a beautiful day.”
