Every night, 365 days of the year, there are approximately 150 men and 75 women at The Healing Place facilities working hard to turn their lives around. This journey can be long and difficult -- -- but it is a journey that many have successfully made. Some former clients of The Healing Place tell their stories in their own words …
LAST HOUSE
“This was the last house on the block”
am an alumnus and staff at The Healing Place. I grew up in a Christian home with wonderful parents and went to a private school where I graduated with honors and then went on to college where “fun” became my middle name as I was always up for trying new things and drugs were one of them. Before becoming what I am today, my life was ruled by drugs and alcohol and it seemed normal for me to use anyone and everyone I could to get them. My family came to the realization that they could no longer wait up nights wondering if I would make it home unharmed so they decided to write me off.
I tried numerous attempts until I came to The Healing Place in which I was mentally and spiritually broken. This was the “last house on the block”, for me and I was willing to do
anything to get and stay sober. I took all the suggestions and I held myself accountable. I had come to find out that the easiest way to change the way I used to be was to change everything about myself. I have to practice the principles of recovery everyday and I have peace knowing that I can wake up each morning looking forward to life and a renewed relationship with my
family.
SAILOR'S STORY
“From serving my country to being homeless”
am a peer mentor at The Healing Place. I grew up in a Catholic home with loving and caring parents and I went to church every Saturday evening. I went to a technical High School and lettered on the Varsity Soccer Team. After High School graduation I joined the US Navy and served 4 years on board the USS Antietam CG54 stationed out of San Diego, California where
I was an engineer testing fuels and refueling ships and helo’s (helicopters). I completed 3 tours to the Persian Gulf from 2001 to 2005.
While in the Navy, alcohol was a way of life. We worked hard and played even harder. I spent many nights having fun drinking at first, but my drinking got carried away and things got bad. I discharged out of the Navy in 2005 and was now a full fledged alcoholic. Things got so bad that I couldn’t even hold a job and became homeless. After hearing about The Healing Place and having no more options, I decided to take advantage of a place that didn’t want a dime in return except for my willingness to work on my recovery. By this time I was scared and willing to do anything to get my life back. The program works because we work for it. So in return I get to give back what was so freely given to me; my life, and today I am saving money and moving towards becoming a productive member of society.
BELIEVE
"It was very
simple all the time."
hen
I first came, I was a broken man. Drugs made me feel like my life was
worth nothing. I had been doing things that a normal person would not do
to others.
Things were getting
so bad that I was seeking help from anywhere I could get it. I was running
from place to place for help, but it seemed that everywhere I went, there
was nothing for me.
The Healing Place of
Wake County has showed me how to like life on life terms. They have showed
me how to deal with old feelings and to learn that I don't have to drink
or take drugs to deal with everyday things.
It was very simple
all the time.
DECISION
"Since I've been
at The Healing Place some promises are coming true."
y life was a
terrible thing. I had no sure way to make money or was not sure if I would
even get a decent meal during the day. Every dime I made went to a dope
man or to the store for alcohol.
I had a wonderful job
making $13 to $18 an hour. I also had a two-bedroom apartment by myself, a
brand new Ford Taurus with only 11 miles on it when I bought it.
Using drugs took
control of me. I found myself hurting family members by stealing things
from them, lying to them and also having them worry if I was dead or
alive. The thing that hurt me the most was losing contact with my
daughter.
Since I've been at
The Healing Place some promises are coming true. I have a better
relationship with my daughter, my mother and father, and also my sisters,
niece and nephews.
I have finally filled
the empty space in my heart.
ADMITTED
"All that was
asked of me was willingness."
espair
and terrifying loneliness were the only emotions that dominated my life.
The more I drank and used drugs to end my torment, the deeper into the
abyss of hopelessness I sank.
Over the years, I
lost job after job. I lost my family and loved ones. I literally had no
place of my own to call home. Helplessness settled over me like a
life-draining blanket. This journey began years ago with no happy
destination at the end.
In the midst of this
dark period in my life I came to The Healing Place of Wake County. "If you
want to change your life we are here to help" was the message they
carried. All that was asked of me was willingness.
I learned about the
disease of addiction, how it affected not only me but everything I held
dear. After years of running on self-destructing emotions I was taught how
to change the way I looked and reacted to my feelings. I learned how to
think and live all over again. For years I was in pain. I thought that
life had passed me by. But today I now realize that the journey of life
has just begun. And it had its beginning at The Healing Place.
SEARCHING
"I have found a
new way of life and a new way to live"
am a 44-year-old
African-American male who started drinking at the age of 9 and never
looked back.
I drank alcohol for
35 years and thought it was the way life was supposed to be lived. I drank
to live and lived to drink because it was what I knew.
In 1991, I was
introduced to crack-cocaine. I never in my life had tried anything that
would turn my life completely upside down. When I took this drug it was
the start of total disaster. I lost job after job. Sold everything I ever
owned and spent dollar after dollar chasing the high that was forever gone
after the first hit.
After 13 years I
asked God for help. God guided me one day to The Healing Place of Wake
County, a homeless shelter with a 12-step program for men who want to get
off alcohol and drugs. I thank God every day because I have found a new
way of life and a new way to live. I have found God and this program has
taught me how to live without drugs and alcohol. With the 12-step program
I can live life on life terms, one day at a time.
READY
"Something came
into my life that I hadn't felt in a long time: Hope."
hildhood
seemed normal enough from the outside, but to me it felt alien, like
something was missing. I felt out of place, angry and scared. As I grew
into my teenage years I found what I believed to be "the solution."
Hanging out with other kids my age, drinking and drugging, I finally felt
like I belonged, like nothing could hurt me. How wrong I was.
My "solution" became
my problem, but I was blind to that fact. As my problems increased, so did
my drinking and drug use. This pattern repeated itself. For years I would
move from town to town, state to state, falling farther and farther into
hopelessness. I hated life, I hated society and most of all I hated
myself, but I couldn't stop. I got to the point where I was homeless, not
able to sleep or eat. I had hit my bottom. I kept trying to find a course
of action to take, but all my bridges were burnt. My depression became a
hopelessness I couldn't explain. This grew into thoughts of suicide and on
a cold night in January I had had enough. I wanted the pain to stop, I
wanted to die.
My attempt at death
was by the grace of God interrupted by a police officer, who took me to
Dorothea Dix hospital. After a short stay, a social worker told me about
The Healing Place of Wake County.
When I first arrived
I still felt uneasy, but there was hot food and it was more comfortable
sleeping in the shelter than in my car. After a couple of weeks of classes
and meetings something came into my life that I hadn't felt in a long
time: Hope. Hearing stories from men who have gone through the program, I
started to believe that I too could recover. As weeks turned into months,
my belief grew with each passing day.
Today I have a new
outlook on life. I have learned about the disease of alcoholism and
addiction and how faith in a Higher Power will keep me from going back. I
now believe that I can become a productive member of society and I have
learned how to love life and myself.
I thank God for this
place and for the blessings I have received since coming here. With His
help I will continue to grow in my recovery. The light at the end of the
tunnel has never been brighter.
ASKED HIM
"God brought me to
The Healing Place"
have had a problem
for many years; the problem was me. I had lost the ability to handle life.
I started using at an
early age. Beer was my first attempt to change the way that I felt. I got
drunk the very first time. I liked the feeling that came from drinking.
There was an ease and comfort that always came from using that was to play
a role in my life for the next 37 years.
Changing the way that
I reacted and the way I felt became the most important part of my life. At
college, drinking was a way to fit in and I drank. I was also introduced
to drugs at school and it was love at first try.
I substituted one
drug for another. Being high was what was normal and I planned everything
around it. My friends used and I worked around using. I would like to say
my life was fun, but overtime drugs made me numb to life. Failed
marriages, the birth of my daughter and the death of my mother were all
masked by drugs. I didn't feel or care. It became worse over time. The
solution to my problem became the problem.
I struggled in and
out of institutions; nothing worked. God brought me to The Healing Place
and they showed me a way to recapture the life that I was wasting. I owe
my sobriety to The Healing Place and the God of my understanding. I am
truly grateful for the understanding that I have today.
