My life from the outside looked pretty good–I had a job that I liked… But the big catalyst for everything was my drinking,
“The Mission gave us a safe place to stay and helped us find a better life.”
If I didn’t end up here at the Mission, I would go back to doing drugs again, and I’d end up … I’d end up dead.
“Being outside, working in the fields – gardening, if you will – is very therapeutic,”
“I am married now, spending time with my family, and golfing!” –Meli
“I had been avoiding the Mission the whole time I was homeless. I didn’t spend two nights there back when I was homeless living in Wallace Park.” -Mike
“I had been to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit my daughter, and we got into a big fallout, and I was drinking heavily. I drank a fifth of bourbon and ended up in the psych ward for five days in Louisiana,” says Diana. “I knew then something had to change.”
Manipulation, coercion, verbal abuse, and gaslighting tore the fabric of her worldview as her abuser shrunk Tracy’s life to an existence. The worst part of it all was the psychological abuse she endured.
“The more depressed I got, the more anxious I got and then the two of them are a very vicious cycle. They feed off of each other like nothing else.”
I tried to quit a few times… would make it a few months and then fall back into it.
“I was living in my car and then I think a year passed and I couldn’t keep my job and I couldn’t keep the payments for the car. I did end up for about three weeks on the street and then a place opened up [at Simonka Place] for me.
“I was so physically and mentally depleted that I felt like a shell; just empty,” says Tracy.
I wish there was more facilities like Simonka that were willing to open their doors no matter what your circumstance, no matter what your affliction is.
As far back as I could remember, I’d always been confident I had everything figured out. I was the Lewis and Clark of my own experience…
I’ve moved into a key and high-paying position in less than a year,” says Chuck, who initially made the job connection through a local staffing agency.
