Rock GuyIn 2005, I was only 20 years old but my life was completely in shambles.  My family looked at and spoke to me like I was a stranger – and in almost every regard I was just that compared to the person my parents raised me to be.  I was raised in a good home by good people.  Drugs and alcohol had simply taken over my life. 

It was this year I decided to seek, which only by the grace of God came through the work of The Gooden Center.  I connected with the counselors, the staff, and the fellow patients in a way that I had never been able to before.  These personal connections not only ultimately saved my life, but also allowed me the opportunity to build a new one.

Now, nearly 8 years after my time at Gooden, I have a life that I could have never dreamed of while in the pit of despair that was my drug addiction.  I am a proud new father and a son to my parents who at one point in time thought that I would die as a result of my addiction.  I am finally able to be an older brother to Jackson.  Who for so long I abused and neglected as my sibling.  When my family tells me they are proud of the man that I have become I know they aren’t lying.

I presently work in a hospital, where I have the opportunity on a regular basis to share my experience with other young men and their families so that they can have some hope that things can get better, no matter how bad they may seem at the time.  I also go to school, where I study to increase my technical ability to help those in need.  This is my new purpose in life.  Helping others is what brings me the greatest satisfaction.

I finally have become the person I always wanted to be, but couldn’t because of the grasp my addiction held over me.  For this freedom, I will always be grateful to The Gooden Center.

Very Truly Yours,

Tommy O.