The Streets and Prison

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He went to jail. But as soon as he was out, he began using again.

His dad tried to get him into other rehab programs, but Ian just “blew him off.” “I wasn’t ready to stop.”

For a while, he lived with his mom.

Then, he moved in with his sister in San Clemente, and that’s where Ian hit “rock bottom.” “It was like a flop house,” he remembers. “I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and I woke up one morning sick and had to go to court, and it dawned on me that I had no life ? I might as well be dead.”

Ian’s dad tried again. He found the New Life Program at Long Beach Rescue Mission. Ian agreed to give it a try and checked in that same night.

The New Life Program offered Ian the education AND spiritual training he needed to overcome the addictions that had kept him in bondage. During his yearlong stay at the Mission, Ian also began to build a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ.

But Ian believes it’s really the people here at the Mission who make the program. “It’s the other brothers in the program and even the guests at the Mission,” he says. “Being around them is what changes you.”

“The work of God goes on here,” says Ian. “It’s a real pleasure to see people take on such drastic changes… it really strengthens your faith.”

Ian says the “friends” he would do drugs with in South Orange County would be shocked to see him today.

“This program is for people who need and want help. It’s so much better for somebody that has an addiction who needs a new life to get help here rather than just be brushed off and go back out on the streets or to prison. That doesn’t fix the problem.”

“Every day you wake up here is like getting another chance.”

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