Curtis Stack: From Living in Son’s Jeep to Sober and Employed
In June 2023, I was living in the back on my son’s Jeep, which was parked at his apartment complex. It had been a long road to that point, my rock bottom.
I started drinking and using drugs when I was 14, shortly after my father was killed by a drunk driver. Whatever faith in God I may have once had left me. I thought, “How could God allow this to happen to someone as young as me.” Alcohol and drugs helped me deal with the pain of losing my dad. Still, as an adult, I usually held down jobs. I often hated getting off work because I knew I would head straight to the liquor store or to buy drugs.
Then I would be intoxicated all night, wake up feeling horrible and have to get up and go to work again. It was a horrible cycle.
About 10 years ago, I started experiencing homelessness due to my addiction. I lost my job and lived on the streets. At times I would get sober, but I ended up going back to my addiction. I wasn’t ready to quit, yet.
But finally, when I was living in the back of my son’s Jeep, I realized I needed help. I had tried unsuccessfully to take my life two times. I woke my son up on the morning of June 11, 2023 and told him I was leaving. I called the Ogden Rescue Mission and they said I could join their New Life Program. Since that time, my life has radically changed.
Through the bible studies and group classes, I came to see God in a different light. I believed He could help me get sober and He did. I knew there was no way I could stay sober on my own but with God’s help I found that I could. His help made me believe He was real. While I still struggle with my father’s death, I know that God is real because He changed my life.
It was good to engage in work therapy at the Mission. I helped clean the Mission doing janitorial work during the day and then helped with evening security at night. I needed to get back into the swing having work to do each day and responsibilities.
When it was time for me to enter the employment phase of the New Life Program, I was ready. I had made new friends who cared about me and one man who gets a small social security check each month but still needs help from the Mission for food and other necessities, gave me $150 one month so I could buy the tools I needed for a potential job.
The job offer was for apartment maintenance and while the apartment complex supplies all the materials, I had to have my own tools. No one had really done anything like that for me before and I felt so blessed. I bought tools, got the job, and have been working for a couple months now. I plan to save up money so I can get my own apartment when I graduate from the New Life Program this June.
The best part is that my son is proud of me now, instead of being embarrassed to have me around and living in the back of his Jeep. I now know there is more to life than getting high. I look around and see the earth, people, animals, and everything and know that all this stuff didn’t just create itself. There is a God who created it all and loves me and helps me.
Today I am happy when I look in the mirror. I am not ashamed like I used to be. Before I blamed all my problems on other people or on God. Now I realize I was the one causing most of my problems.
Thank you so much for supporting the Ogden Rescue Mission. Without your support I am sure I would be dead. You helped create a place where God changed my life and for that I am eternally grateful.
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