Roy’s Story

Left without parents at a young age when his mother was killed by a drunk driver, and his father was imprisoned for manslaughter, Roy was raised by his grandparents. Becoming restless at 18 years old, he left their home and chased after a life of drugs and alcohol.

After putting a man in a coma over a drug deal gone wrong, Roy found himself in the same prison that his father once occupied. Struck by the realization that he didn’t want to continue the same dysfunctional pattern of his family before him, Roy made a decision. Alone in his cell, with a searching heart and arms outstretched, Roy called out to the Creator ‘Please help me!...whatever it takes I want to do it now. I want to give up my old life.’

Given the choice by the courts of long-term imprisonment or entering a recovery program, Roy moved forward with giving up his old life and began his journey toward recovery in Ruth & Naomi’s OASIS program. He shares ‘After 26 months of living at RAN, I have a lot of takeaways from my time there. Through the Christian faith, I learned about helping others and that I could impact others in my everyday life. They believed in me before I believed in myself and made me feel like I was worth something again.’

Now 8 years clean and sober, Roy drops by the Mission from time to time. He reflects on his time in the recovery program and the life lessons and skills that have guided him to where he is now. His children, now back in his life, were a major part of his motivation to succeed and his faith and trust in the Creator shapes his everyday life. Roy comments, ‘Put your faith in the Creator and do your work and miracles can happen!’