William’s Success Story

I never imagined I would walk into the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake and ask for help. I had built a successful career as an IT network engineer and thought I was in control of my life. Yet in March 2025, I found myself standing at the Mission’s doors, humbled and desperate. Swallowing my pride was difficult, but God used that moment to begin changing everything.

My childhood was far from perfect. I was introduced to drugs and alcohol early in life, but by my twenties I believed I had overcome those challenges. I had earned a degree in network engineering, secured a good job in the Salt Lake area, married the woman I loved, and we had a beautiful daughter. I was also pursuing my passion for music. I played bass and drums, and I worked occasionally as a professional DJ. During my marriage I stayed sober for several years, which felt like a major victory.

When COVID hit, everything unraveled. I lost my job. I returned to drugs and alcohol. My marriage fell apart. The life I had worked so hard to build slipped away. Instead of being a sober husband and father, I became a man my wife and daughter could not be around. I felt like I had lost everything.

Over the next several years I tried to drink myself to death more than once. I bounced from job to job, saved enough money to rent a cheap hotel room, and drank until someone found me and took me to the hospital. I would sober up, get released, and repeat the cycle. After my divorce, the loneliness and hopelessness grew even deeper.

Eventually, after another attempt to drink myself to death and another hospital stay, I ended up homeless on the streets. It was even more miserable. That is when I turned to the Rescue Mission for help.

I told myself I would enter the New Life Program as an experiment. I was curious about God but did not fully believe in Him. My thought was simple. If God changed my life through this program, then He must be real. For the first time, I gave God a genuine chance to show Himself to me.

God did exactly that.

When I joined the New Life Program, I was assigned to work therapy at the Mission’s front desk. Every day I interacted with homeless men and women who came seeking help. The job required patience, compassion, firmness, and love. As I attended Bible studies and chapel services, I learned about Jesus and what He had done for me. I felt God giving me faith in His Son, Jesus. That faith began to shape my character. I grew in patience, compassion, and fairness, which helped me serve the guests who came to the front desk with all kinds of needs and frustrations.

God also used that experience to open doors for employment. When I graduated into the employment phase of the program, I was hired as the front desk person at a local construction company. The skills I learned at the Mission helped me handle contractors, suppliers, and others who needed support. I saw this as another way God was proving Himself to me. Over time, I realized I should never have demanded proof from God. I had everything backwards. He had already shown His love through Jesus, and I was the one who needed to surrender.

Through the Rescue Mission, I also found a church home at The Conversation Church in Midvale. The fellowship there has been a huge blessing. People are genuinely seeking Jesus, and I feel supported and encouraged.

One of the greatest gifts God has given me is sobriety. I have been sober for more than a year. I live in the Freedom House, the Mission’s transitional housing program, and I am working hard to save money so I can buy a car and eventually move into my own place.

Another blessing is that God opened a door for me to return to my career field. Many IT network support jobs have disappeared as companies turn to AI systems, but by God’s grace I now work for a large and stable company providing internal network support. This allowed me to leave my job at the construction company and return to the field I trained for.

God has also restored my relationship with my mother. We talk often, and when I first moved into the Freedom House, she sent me a box of new clothes. That meant a lot to me. My relationship with my ex-wife is still strained, and I do not currently have a relationship with my daughter. I understand why, but I pray every day that Jesus will heal those relationships. I want to be a good father, and I want everyone involved to feel confident that I am stable, healthy, and ready to be part of my daughter’s life again.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who supports the Rescue Mission. Your generosity, combined with the saving power of Jesus Christ, has given me faith, sobriety, housing, and employment. My life is being rebuilt, and I am filled with hope for the future. Thank you!