A Heart of Thanksgiving – Dennis wants to share how your support changed his life!
“I was broken and so tired of being alone…”
All his life, Dennis craved stability, but it never seemed possible. “I hated being around home, as a kid. My father was an alcoholic… he would get drunk and break things, screaming that he was going to kill himself.”
When Dennis went to live with his grandparents, he thought he’d found safety. But their death only four years later left him alone again, reeling from the loss of his fiercest protectors.
By age 14 Dennis had begun drinking in an attempt to numb his pain, and drug use followed shortly after. At 16 – feeling unwanted by his teachers – he dropped out of school.
Try as he might, he couldn’t establish a foundation. He married his girlfriend after the birth of their son, hoping to build a family. That dream died when he discovered she’d been having an affair with his brother. And the final blow came when he found out that he wasn’t his son’s biological father.
“I’d lost all trust in all my friends and I was filled with hate toward my brother.” His drinking and drug use became worse than ever and, at his lowest point, suicide seemed like the only way out.
The memory of his mother inspired him to try one last time to turn his life around. At the advice of a friend, he turned to the Mission.
“I was broken and so tired of being alone…”
From day one, welcomed with open arms, Dennis felt his life turning around. “When I first got there and started the program it felt like somebody put a nice, warm blanket around me.”
In the Mission’s Gateway program for men and women, Dennis’s days were filled with Bible study, counseling, recovery classes and vocational training through his work in the Mission’s warehouse. And his heart was filled by a deepening relationship with God.
Today, having earned his forklift license, he looks forward to completing his program and beginning his career. “I believe in myself and I feel joy in my life, happiness!”
Dennis is filled with thanksgiving for God’s redeeming love in his life – and your incredible generosity and support! “The Mission helped me grow closer to Christ and heal from years past. I wake up every day with a smile because I feel like I have a purpose, my life is not a waste.”
To read the Fall 2023 issue of Changing Lives, click here.