Daniel has been at Guiding Light for a little over one month now, and is for the first time seeking professional treatment for his issues with alcoholism and addiction.
“At first I felt scared and nervous, a little irritated at myself because I have never been to treatment for my addiction before. I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. Daniel was initially very nervous as to what kind of environment he was walking into. Many of our clients report initial feelings of intimidation when arriving at Guiding Light, walking up to a locked door on South Division Avenue, and having to be buzzed in by a security guard. “I did 12 years in prison so when I came here I was really worried that this place was going to be violent or I was going to have a problem with people’s attitudes…I had never been to a place like this. But it’s nothing like prison, not at all.” Having the courage to trust in God and in oneself and walk through those doors is the first step, although a scary one, to getting better. Once inside and accepted into the Recovery program, men like Daniel are submerged in a comprehensive schedule to facilitate personal responsibility, growth, and spiritual development. “A typical day consists of me waking up and making my bed, I do my chores which is to mop the back hallway. I serve breakfast, take a shower, and then we have morning ritual.”
Morning ritual is a time for the men enrolled in the Recovery program to gather every morning in a circle and to state what they are grateful for and what they will strive to be for the day. After everyone has shared, the men shout in unison that “today is a great day and I’m ready to take action!” When asked what his initial impression of what the morning ritual entailed, Daniel gave an answer similar to what many men report in their first few days here. “When I first did the morning ritual, I thought to myself ‘what the heck is this?’ This is so weird I am not like these other guys here…but I feel completely different about it now. Everybody is just telling you what they’re grateful for and I never looked at it like that. You know, to get up in the morning and be grateful that God gave me another day of life…that’s a great way to start things off.”
For men like Daniel, being accepted in the Guiding Light Recovery program is a lifeline that very few out there struggling with addiction are afforded. Substance-abuse treatment programs are often incredibly costly, even if the client has access to private health insurance. Other more “affordable” programs often require that clients work in order to “pay” for their treatment. This is not the case at Guiding Light, where our clients are afforded access to professional, holistic, and realistic help from qualified instructors and mentors in a safe and secure environment. At Guiding Light Recovery, we focus on the long-term success of our clients. Our clients are not a number, a metric, a statistic, or a paycheck; they are human beings that have fallen down and are worthy of God’s grace. Being able to help these men get back up is a truly worthwhile mission in our eyes and one that we take very seriously. Thank you for helping us to continue on our mission of helping men like Daniel to reach their God-given potential. The life-changing stories and experiences that come out of Guiding Light are truly worth the investment, and we are forever grateful to you, our donors, volunteers, and advocates, for choosing to have a stake in what we do here. Thank you so much, and God bless.
