I live at Homeless not Hopeless, but previously I owned several homes in southeastern Massachusetts, Maine and Cape Cod. I was a very successful sales manager with multiple firms and was financially secure. Ironically, I lost all those homes and now live in a homeless shelter complex. I am blessed to be here.
I grew up in the city and learned the hard lessons of city life. Tragically, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack when I was a young teen. I had to grow up quickly to protect my mom and sisters and to be the responsible “man” of the family. I was a good student, graduating from Brockton High and then UCLA in 1984.
Everything changed. I was married for 23 years and for a variety of reasons my marriage dissolved. Due in large part to a combination of anger and resentment to the course my life had taken, I turned to a deadly combination of bad relationships, alcohol, and drugs. I got arrested for DUIs. The alcohol and drugs made me angry and enraged, and I started getting into fights: bar fights, neighborhood fights, and home fights. Eventually, along with the DUIs, I was arrested for assault and battery and intimidating a witness. I truly was out of control. Good lawyers did not help, and judges sent me to jail three times. I couldn’t seem to pull my life together.
They didn’t care that I was successful. All they cared about was for me to stop threatening people with my car, tongue, and fists. While I was in the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, I attended the R.E.C Program (Residents Encounter Christ) which opened my eyes and gave me an awareness of the horrible and destructive things I had been doing to the family that I loved, to my friends, to my community, and to me.
I made a pact with the Lord to change my ways and attitude. I am a life long Christian, and He responded. In February 2020, when I was discharged from jail, I was accepted to live at Homeless not Hopeless. After interviewing with Deacon Dick Murphy, he saw in me the potential to be a positive influence for the men of HnH by my loving example and maturity. He trusted me immediately and asked me to be the House Manager responsible for overseeing the daily activities of the other fifteen men in the house.
I have been doing that ever since, and my position and tenure at HnH has enabled me to grow in my journey to change. I pray that the Lord keeps me moving up, and that my relationships with my family will continue to heal, and that I enhance our tenuous connection.
I have gone from a man whose motivation was, “Fueled by anger and bitterness to make money, move fast, and fight” to becoming a new and different man whose motto now is, “To be humble, be kind, and work hard.”
God is very much in my life, and I pray to Him often. I am most grateful for my second chance. Godspeed.
