- Drugs
I’m an addict. My name is Peter, and I grew up with four sisters and two brothers. I started using drugs when I was around ten years old, and they immediately brought me to bad places like jails, institutions and overdoses. I was in a motorcycle accident while under the influence of alcohol, and I almost died. My addiction robbed me of scholarships to top schools. I was enrolled to attend junior school, but I ended up in prison for using and lost that dream as well. I ended up in prison when I was 17 years old and got out when I was 22. I didn’t have a career so I turned to drugs again. I never had anything so I didn’t care. I didn’t want to surrender. I created more pain.
My son was born addicted and blind, and this opened my eyes to a new way of life. I had more drug convictions and problems with the law before I realized I must make a change. I surrendered on February 10, 1995, and went into detox. I started fixing my life one day at a time. I got a sponsor and started working the steps. I got married, got divorced, lost six family members to overdose, lost my home, lost my job and experienced many other life events since getting clean. I am now the founder of a recovery home for men and women. We have a lawyer, a CPA, a nurse practitioner, licensed counselors, relapse prevention groups and on-site house managers, and it all started with me helping one homeless addict six years ago. We’ve been growing since I made it my full time job to save addict’s lives, and we have many success stories.
I’m a single father raising an infant alone, but we are good because I’m clean and live with integrity, steadfastness and faith.