Josh’s childhood was chaotic. His parents divorced when he was three, and he bounced between their homes, longing for stability. As he got older, he thought he found the answer: alcohol and marijuana. “It made it easier to feel good since regular life was not living up to its potential,” he says. But soon the alcohol and marijuana weren’t enough.

“By the time I was 25, I had nurtured a full-blown painkiller addiction without even realizing it. When the pills ran out, I began to go through withdrawal for the first time. There was only one thing for me to do. I picked up my first gram of heroin with the little money I had and began to smoke it constantly. It was sweet relief like never before.” Josh didn’t admit his heroin addiction until he ended up sleeping in his car, surrounded by all his belongings. He decided he’d kick heroin. . .with meth. You can imagine how that went. “I became suicidal and spent my 27th birthday in a psych ward,” he remembers.

Finally, someone suggested Josh come to the Rescue Mission. Thanks to our generous donors, he was able to join our 12-month recovery program, get sober, get healthy, and begin a whole new life. “Today, not even a year after being remanded in court for being under the influence, I am midway through my first semester in school since I was 17. I am pursuing a degree in psychology while working at the same time . . . it blows my mind on a daily basis.”