Jeff had once struggled with drugs and alcohol, but through a Christ-centered program, he got clean and sober. He’d maintained his sobriety for 20 years – then, he lost his job.
“I was getting unemployment, looking for work, and had a lot of extra time on my hands. I started drinking again,” he says. “I ended up homeless, living in a tent up in Topanga Canyon for nearly a year.”
“No food…no water.”
Finally, he’d had enough. “I got to the point on the mountain where I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’” he explains. “I decided to quit drinking…I ended up down in some gully for days and days with no food and water.”
Jeff was finally able to climb out, and spent three days in the hospital. “I was dehydrated and they fed me and got me well,” he says.
“I wanted to rededicate my life.”
He then went to a sober living home, where he was referred to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission and our Life Recovery Program. “What I wanted out of this program was to rededicate my life…to build a relationship with Jesus again,” he says.
Jeff has graduated and is now in the Mission’s Fresh Start Program, which is helping him get back on his feet again. He also began working at our brand new rift Store in Santa Clarita, which benefits the Mission and our local community.
Jeff credits the Mission with changing the course of his life. “Going from homeless, living in the tent up in the mountains, to being employed in less than a year – that’s awesome,” he says. “This place totally transforms people’s lives.”
To read the rest of the issue of Sharing Hope, click here.