Justin’s Success Story

Discovering People Who Truly Cared

I came to the Rescue Mission after spending time in jail and participating in other recovery programs.  Given my incarceration and other recovery experiences, I had been sober for a few months, but when I walked into the Rescue Mission, I knew this place was different. I sensed that it could take me to the next level I needed for long-term sobriety.

Truth be told, I have struggled with drug and alcohol abuse since I was a teenager. In my rural California hometown, almost everyone drank or smoked pot or did some kind of drug, even the parents. My dad has been a life-long drinker, while still holding down jobs as a mechanic. My mother died of liver failure from prescription drug abuse just a few years ago.

When my mother went into a coma, and since I was her closest relative (my parents were never married), I had to travel to Bakersfield and make the decision to discontinue life support. Since that decision, there are still members of my mother’s family who refuse to speak with me. It was the day my mother passed that really pushed my already dead-end life spiraling to rock bottom. My father, who was here in Utah, suggested I come live with him, but all he did was work all day and drink all night until he fell asleep.

Alone, I turned to drugs and alcohol even more, often waiting until my father passed out so I could take his car and drive to downtown Salt Lake where I knew I could score prescription pain pills and other drugs.

It might seem strange, but on one of those nighttime trips to Salt Lake from Payson (where my dad lived at the time) I feel like God changed my life. I had consumed more than half a gallon of cinnamon whiskey, but when my dad fell asleep, I decided to drive to Salt Lake. While driving on the freeway I passed out, clipped a semi-truck, and crashed into the guardrail. My body was hanging halfway inside and halfway outside the car held in barely by the seatbelt.

The first person who came upon the scene, I believe because God was looking out for me, was a registered nurse. I don’t know her name, who she is, or anything about her, but they told me she began expertly performing CPR and brought me back to life.

I was hospitalized for three months and during that time I was prescribed a lot of pain killers. Those drugs were needed since I was in so much pain, but it wasn’t good for a drug addict to spend three months using pain killers. When I was released from the hospital, I still had a lot of medical problems and was addicted to my medications. I ended up having a bowel obstruction and was bleeding internally from complications.

It was hard to hold down a job and I eventually lived homeless in downtown Salt Lake, just panhandling for money so I could purchase drugs to numb the pain or stay in a cheap hotel. I was in turmoil, I was ashamed of what I had become, but, at the same time I did not want to quit using drugs.

I was in a pattern of getting arrested, ending up in jail and then being released to a recovery program. But I always had a bad attitude and would get kicked out and sent back to jail. Mostly my bad attitude centered around money. I felt like all the recovery programs they offered me only cared about money. They didn’t care about me, only if I could get on Medicaid so they could charge the government for my recovery expenses. Other programs require you to work for their companies to cover the cost of the program.

I couldn’t have a real relationship with my counselors because I felt they saw me as a way to get paid, not as a real person. But my attitude changed when I joined the New Life Program at the Rescue Mission.

I had been to the Mission several times before, but when I came in for breakfast in November, 2019 after just being release from jail, it felt different. Someone told me about the recovery program and suggested I try it. There were no conversations about whether my insurance could be verified or if my Medicaid was good. They didn’t ask me for a single dime. All they said was, “maybe this is a place that could help you.”

Since I have been here, I have met a lot of good people. I started volunteering in the Work Therapy Program and felt like I had a purpose, that I belonged.

Through the counseling, work therapy, and relationship building I have experienced at the Mission, I feel like a new person. I have learned about God, and now believe that God has been looking out for me my entire life. Still, I have a lot more to learn. I attend a house church through Missio Dei and admit that I am still working on building my faith in the God of the Bible. So please pray that God would continue to build a heart of faith in me.

A few months ago, I was able to transition to the employment phase of the New Life Program. God blessed me with a job at a metal fabrication company that makes parts for medical devices, among other things. It’s a growing company that creates top-notch equipment. I get paid well and am learning real skills, such as how to run press break and CNC machinery. I’m working hard, but now feel like I have skills that will keep me employed for life.

As I look forward to graduating from the New Life Program in a couple months. I want to try to keep things as simple as possible. My job is in Bluffdale, so I would like to move a little closer. Another member of the New Life Program also works at my same company, so we have discussed getting an apartment together. I would like to get my driver’s license back and, who knows, maybe even start a family if I fall in love and the time and situation is right.

I thank all the supporters of the Rescue Mission for helping to create a place that I could trust. A place that didn’t ask me if I had insurance or whether I could pay a therapy bill. This place accepted me for free. That was how I knew they cared about me, and how I know all of you care about me as well. Thank you for helping to change my life.