The death of a loved one can rock anyone’s world. There’s no telling how a person might react to such awful news.
When two people close to him died, Brian’s reaction involved drugs.
At 17, his best friend was shot and killed. Brian’s reaction was to clean up and fly right, so he quit his meth habit. Ten years later, his dad died. Brian’s reaction this time was the opposite. Torn apart by grief and despair, he fell headlong back into addiction.
That’s when his troubles really began. Multiple arrests. Getting fired from a job. Cashing in his entire 401(k) and spending it on drugs. “It was haywire,” Brian says now, looking back.
After his last arrest in July 2021, Brian was given an ultimatum: Go to prison. Or follow a drug-court prescribed program. He chose the program, and came to the Kokomo Rescue Mission as his home base.
“I’d driven by the Mission many times,” he says, “but wasn’t really familiar with it.”
Brian arrived at the Mission just four days after Thanksgiving last fall, worried about what they would think of him — a drug user with multiple arrests.
He was pleasantly surprised. “Everybody was really welcoming,” he says. “Everybody wanted to help me, to comfort me, to take down my nervousness. I liked it right away.”
Brian dove right into the recovery program. He’s been sober ever since. And he’s been transformed from the inside out.
“My faith has changed completely,” he says. “They helped me see Christ. They brought me into my faith more than I ever was before.”
Brian started helping out around the Mission, doing chores and odd jobs. It kept him busy, it kept him focused. Mission staff started giving him more and more responsibilities — working in the thrift store, helping out in the kitchen and warehouse.
Within six months, Brian was on staff himself as a truck driver, making pickups and deliveries, taking things wherever they need to go. He loves it.
“I like my job a lot because I like helping people,” he says. “And I like communicating.” And he wants to communicate his gratitude to you. “Coming out of jail, you really don’t have anything,” he says. “But the Mission has helped me stay sober. They’ve had a great impact on my life.”
You can have a great impact in the lives of so many people who need help. Thank you!