Individuals who have been locked in a battle against addiction know well that sobriety doesn’t always take the first time you try. Heck, a lot of times not even a second try guarantees success. It can take repeated tries over many, many years before the goal is achieved. The process can take its toll on the addict and their family.
However, one recovery group, located in the Bay Area, has been helping hundreds of folks to break the cycle of addiction and has provided these individuals with all of the tools they need to experience success and rebuild their lives, which have been wrecked by drugs or alcohol.
A recent report published by Fox13 News spoke with several different addicts to get their story on how this group helped them achieve sobriety and equip them to take life one day at a time. Those addicts interviewed for the story include Kevin Curry, Melenoa Maafu, and Austyn Culhane.
“You make no decisions. Drugs and alcohol make all the decisions,” Curry stated during the interview.
“I was living in a yard, in a shed,” Maafu told the outlet.
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“It was just comfortable chaos for me,” remarked Culhane.
Those who’ve been there know that the highs are far outweighed by the lows. For Justin Halas, the executive director and founder of Hand up to Victory, 15 years of addiction started with alcohol as a teen, but then grew to harder drugs and opiates.
“That led into runs of being homeless, out on the street, robbing and stealing, and the whole lifestyle that comes with it,” Halas commented. For Halas, the road to recovery was long and paved with over 150 relapses before he received what he calls, “the gift of desperation.”
“Long story short, it basically ruined my life and ruined everyone’s life around me,” he added.
He was desperate to quit, but starting over wasn’t so simple. Once out of jail, Halas had nothing – no money, car, home, job, family or friends. But thanks to those he knew in the church and recovery community, he quit once and for all.
Now Halas has made it his personal mission to reach out to others suffering with addiction issues and help them achieve victory too. This is what motivated him to launch the Hand up to Victory non-profit organization in Bradenton.
What makes this group so amazing is that within a time frame of 24 hours, they can take someone struggling with addiction and get them into a sober living home, get them hooked up with transportation, a phone, new identification card, some food, clothing, just about anything they need. They’ve also joined forces with other local businesses in the area to help these individuals, many of them formerly convicted felons, jobs.
“We see so many people that they’re getting vehicles back,” Halas explained, “they’re getting careers that they love, and most important, the next step is they’re getting their own places, and they’re getting their families back in their life.”
The organization hosts a weekly recovery group called, “High on Jesus” that takes place at the First United Methodist Church of Bradenton. It’s essentially an Alcoholics Anonymous program, but with a very strong dose of Christianity.
“We highly recommend everybody get a sponsor and work the 12 steps,” Halas remarked to the group. “I want to make sure everyone knows that, along with Jesus Christ as our higher power. That’s the name, ‘High on Jesus.'”
It feels more like a family reunion than a meeting as they pass around pizza, catch up, laugh, get vulnerable and celebrate recovery.
“I’m diving back into prayer, I’m diving back into recovery meetings, I’m diving back into setting some goals and going after them. Whatever it looks like for you, we’re diving back in,” Halas went on to say at a previous meeting.
“By getting High on Jesus and getting a Hand up to Victory, we start our journey to greatness,” Culhane said.
Halas is proof that one day can become a decade. He celebrated 10 years sober last November.
“I thought one day sober was impossible, because it was,” Halas said. “Don’t give up hope. We do recover. Complete sobriety is possible.”
This is exactly what the church of Jesus is supposed to be doing. Engaging with those who have been downtrodden, tossed away, forgotten. The gospel has everything we need to overcome the darkness in our own hearts. Praise God for these ministries and the work they are doing to help people free themselves from the chains of sin and addiction so they can find fulfillment in Christ.