Mark
I recently graduated from the Phase I part of the Open Door Mission Christian Life Program. I am now in the Phase II Aftercare Program. I came to the Mission in 2006 after many years of drinking, drugs and depression. Over the years I had tried to quit the drinking and drugs through the A.A. and other programs, but even when I could stop using I was still depressed. I didn't really think I had a purpose in life and the depression would lead me back to the drugs again and again. The problem wasn't just the drinking and the drugs, it was that my whole life was a mess. I was trying to do everything on my own! Well, that changed last summer.
I had been coming to the Mission for a couple of months for the evening meal and I started to realize that I always felt better after the chapel service that took place before the meal. In fact I would start looking forward to the service during the day and would even come to the Mission when I had food at home. I know now it was God reaching out to me. Well, finally on September 26, 2006 I responded to an alter call at a Mission chapel service. I asked God for forgiveness for all the wrong things that I've done throughout my life and especially all the heartache that I caused my loved ones for so many years. I then asked the Lord to come into my heart. Since that day my life has completely changed. A week later, I was accepted into the Christian Life Program and my walk with the Lord really took off! Over the course of the last year, I've learned so much about God's love for us all.
The people at the Mission have all been great to me and have taught me so much. I can really see and feel God's love working through everyone. I will forever be grateful for what Jesus Christ my Lord has done for me by coming into my life and leading me to the Open Door Mission. Without God in my heart, my life was a complete mess. Now with God in my heart, my life has been full of joy and peace! I want to thank everyone at the Open Door Mission who has helped me in too many ways to count. I want to especially thank the donors and the volunteers, for without them the Mission would not and could not exist. You are all truly doing what the Lord would want! God bless you all.
AJ
When I was 14 years old it was the cool thing to drink and do drugs. Little did I know at this early age I was developing habits that would later proof to be devastating to my future. This life long struggle of using drugs and alcohol continued into my later teens right through my twenties.
It wasn't until I had a son that I decided to stop using drugs, but as a result my alcohol consumption increased compounding my problems of alcoholism. Alcohol contributed to the break up of me and my family. With all humility, I started looking for help. AA was my first stop.
After a year at AA I was able to control my alcohol consumption to a certain point, but my lifestyle was still not what I would call acceptable. Needless to say the company of friends I was still keeping while trying to stay dry was not helping the situation.
I continued to drink only socially, but I slowly progressed back into old habits of drinking more frequently. I began missing more and more work time and family functions spending less and less time with my son. This went on for a number of years.
The people who cared most about me lost all their trust and confidence in me. The hardest days were not seeing my son and knowing what I could have done different to avoid all this.
Now as man in my mid thirties I knew that if I was ever going to get my life and son back it was time to get serious and deal with my alcohol problem.
I thank God for drawing me to get the help I needed from Open Door Mission. I entered their Christian Life program in January of 2004 and successfully graduated on October 3rd.
For the first time in a long, long time I feel like life is brand new for me. Old things have past away, all things have become new. My future is in God's hands now. By far, the best hands that I have ever put myself in.
I have a renewed commitment not just to myself, but my son. I know I can't make up for all the lost years in just a few short months, but with God's help I am going to redeem the time I have left in this life and be the man and father to my son God would have me to be one day at a time.
Alvin
I am a graduate of the Mission 's Christian Life Recovery Program. I would like to tell you about myself and my testimony. I am 27 years old, single, and without children. My grandparents, who strongly believed and lived for the Lord Jesus Christ, raised me in Williamson, NY. At a young age I gave my life to Jesus Christ, but didn't make him the Lord of my life. As I grew older I became very prideful, rebellious, stiff-necked, wild and curious about the wrong things in life. My mother and father have always engaged in some type of drug and alcohol use. Consequently, I followed after the same passions and patterns. I followed after bad company, made very bad life -threatening choices and decisions. I quit everything positive and good. I neglected and forsook God's Word, my grandparents' guidance, direction, and discipline, my teachers' influence, my counselors, recruiters from Xerox who tried to work with me and my Christian foster parents who tried really hard to help me succeed. All these people were placed in my life by God to warn me about a path in life ordained to misery, anguish, pain, devastation, and destruction.
Being stiff-necked and self-righteous got me on a path that nearly destroyed me. I followed drug dealers down to Scranton, PA and sold their drugs, which landed me in prison. It was my first criminal conviction and I received a two year sentence. I was released only to try another drug, crack cocaine and it tore my life apart for eight years. I stole, sold whatever I could get my hands on, and became suicidal. I was a complete mess. I realized that everything people had so desperately warned me to stay away from had come true. I was broken and all done.
It was at that time God planted a seed in a dear brother in Christ and through him I came to the Open Door Mission in September of 2001. While going through their Christian Life Recovery Program, I began seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and He rescued me. I didn't successfully complete the program the first time around, but God's mercy and grace brought me safely back six months later. Thanks to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and the prayers and support of many , on July 20th of 2003 I graduated from the Mission 's Christian Life Recovery Program.
I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. One particular passage of scripture that comes to mind in all my gratitude is found in the book of St. Matthew 25:31-46. If you have time to read it, please do. Here at the Mission we usually have milk with our dinner. It makes me think to myself that your love, aid and support as a donor of the Mission is the "milk" that has nourished me and my fellow brothers to make a better way of life. You've provided us with not just a handout, but a hand up. Although I may never meet most of you personally, you'll always have a place in my life and heart.
Duane
Before I became physically ill you would either find me living on the streets or doing jail time. While in jail for a suspended driver's license I had lost everything I owned including my house and everything in it.
Soon after I found myself battling several life threatening diseases, which I tried to overcome through increased prescription drug use. After a brief stay in the hospital I was released, but still more dead than alive physically, mentally and spiritually.
Months later I was introduced to the open door mission crisis housing center. At the mission they gave me food, warm clothes and a bed. At their daily chapel services I soon found out what was missing in my life and what I needed to do to change my situation. That change was in the form of accepting Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.
Soon after that decision I entered the mission's Christian life recovery program. Within months during my stay at the mission I began to experience god's miracle working power in my life. Over time my physical condition had slowly improved for the better and after successfully completing the mission recovery program, I graduated on February 27 th.
I would like to first thank everyone at the mission who showed me such compassion and kindness through the program, especially to the director Ron Fox for unselfish works and to the dedicated staff who give their all everyday.
Last, but most importantly, I would like to thank god who has helped me to understand that all things are possible to those who believe in his name and have faith in his son.
I am now trusting god for continued improvements in my health and for a brighter future in my new life as a Christian.
Grant
In 1975, while employed with Sears Roebuck Company, I lost my job due to a drinking problem. I was collecting welfare only to support my serious drinking and drug additions. I was married in 1986. With very little money left at the end of each month I managed to pay my rent, but only for a time. We ultimately lost our apartment and I began living in the streets while also staying at the Men's Shelter at Open Door Mission for lodging and meals. This cycle repeated itself up until 1997. It was at this point that I applied for the Mission 's Christian Life Recovery Program and became a short-term resident of the Mission .
Approximately one year later I graduated from the program and stayed on as an intern employee. I worked at the Mission for thirteen months clean from drugs and alcohol before a relapse. When the Mission put me on probation for my bad behavior I decided to leave and move back with my wife. The cycle of moving back to live with my wife and the use of drugs repeated itself a number of times. Finally in 2002 I made a steadfast commitment with no turning back to complete the Christian Life Recovery Program a second time and to graduate.
On Sunday, August 17th, after almost 30 years of bad decisions, my life has been transformed. If not for the love, patience and compassion of the Open Door Mission during all these years of my life, I don't know that I would even be alive today.
Thank God for the Mission who taught me about the love of Jesus Christ and rescued me out of my destructive lifestyle.
Gerry
Gerald truly believes that if it were not for the grace of God he would be dead. "I was living a sinful life, and the Bible says, 'the wages of sin is death.' I was a crack addict, a liar, a thief and an alcoholic who was destined to die on the streets." But Romans 6:23 also says, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And that is exactly what Gerald found at the Open Door Mission! Gerald's path to the Mission began in the early 1970s when the money from a goodpaying job began to lead him into temptation. "I made more money than I knew what to do with and I ended up doing all kinds of crazy things. I tried everything but heroin, and if I got into trouble, I just paid my lawyer more money to get out of it. By the 1990s I was a full-blown addict." Nothing seemed to be able to stop Gerald's drug use; not the loss of his $100,000 a year job, not the loss of his driver's license or continued stretches in jail for drugs.
The first time he remembers coming to the Open Door Mission was in 1998 or 1999. "I went to the Soup Kitchen for a meal once or twice a week, then I lost my place to stay and ended up sleeping on a cot here." Little by little, through people who worked at the Mission and their prayers for him, Gerald began to see that the Mission was more than just a place to get food, clothes and a bed. The first time he remembers coming to the Open Door Mission was in 1998 or 1999. "I went to the Soup Kitchen for a meal once or twice a week, then I lost my place to stay and ended up sleeping on a cot here." Little by little, through people who worked at the Mission and their prayers for him, Gerald began to see that the Mission was more than just a place to get food, clothes and a bed for the night.
"Now I realize the plan for my life was much bigger than anything I could fathom." It was right here in the Mission that Gerald found the Lord and let Him into his life. "I went around and got everybody I could and gave them my testimony. The Lord had emptied me so He could fill me up again." Gerald finally entered the
Mission's Christian Life and Substance Abuse Program. "The program usually takes about 12 months," Gerald says with a smile. "It took me 19 months. I guess I wanted to learn more." Today Gerald can honestly say that his past is behind him. For the past year he's been working in the Mission's kitchen. "I don't consider myself a cook, but I learned because I am here to be obedient to the Lord. I'm His hands. I'm His feet. I'm whatever He needs. The more I give Him the more He has for me."
Lee
After losing a job I held for fifteen years, I lost my home and car. I turned to a life on the streets living each day out of a bottle of booze. I was desperate for help especially because of the fact that I had just received my second DWI offense. While staying at the Mission 's men's shelter, I met someone who was already in the Christian Life substance abuse program. I was strongly encouraged to inquire about getting some help for my alcohol addiction. The next day I went to the Caring Center to meet with their program chaplain, Ron Fess, he invited me to pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into my life and forgive me of my past and to help me start my life over. That same day I was accepted into their program. Upon my completion of the six-month Christian Life program I was offered a full time position at the Mission . For me the most valuable lesson I've learned at the Mission over the last couple of years was learning about God's grace and love and that all things are possible when you trust in Jesus Christ. I thank God for the compassion of the folks at the Mission like Ron Fess, who gave me the chance to start over. Today, I am still sober and serving the Lord at the Mission knowing that if God was able to turn my life around, He can certainly do it for anyone who is willing to ask for His help.
Marty
I first came to know Jesus in 1982 while working in the defense industry. Some of my co-workers had a prayer meeting every day in the parking lot prior to work. It took the more than six months of praying for me before I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to give my life over to Christ. Before then, I lead the life of a stereotypical biker... drugs, alcohol, violence and crime. I don't believe in going into details about this portion of my life because I feel it falsely glamorizes it and in no way glorifies the Lord. Let me just say that I was either drunk and/or high every night and spent more than one evening in jail. I followed the Lord for several years before I found myself backsliding. I guess I had never totally given myself to the Lord. I still had the urges to use drugs and alcohol and I was trying to control them myself. To this day I can not pinpoint the exact "how" or "why" I strayed for the Lord, all I know is that after I had turned my back on God, my life was in worse shape than it ever was before. I kept going from job to job and from relationship to relationship... all of which failed. That is when a friend of mine took me to the Open Door Mission in Rochester , New York where I enrolled in their Bible Based Christian Life 12-step recovery program. There the Lord performed a miracle in my life. He accomplished in an instant what I could not do for myself in 20 years. He totally delivered me from drugs and alcohol. And all I had to do was to turn my addictions over to Him and ask Him to remove them from me! Through the kind care and guidance of the staff of the Open Door Mission and my home church, Bethel Full Gospel Church , I returned to my walk with the Lord, this time without the urges and cravings for the drugs and alcohol. The violence and anger was replaced with love and a genuine caring for my fellow human beings. God is good and He is real! He is there for you if you will just humble yourself and call upon His name. I hope that each of you that read this find the joy and peace that my Lord has for you.
Michael
Up until a year ago I didn't know that everyone is born with sin and that everyone is separated from God. Without that connection our troubles and inner hurts don't ever lessen they only get covered up or magnified. Jesus is that connection and the only way we can be saved and have life in abundance. I had an empty heart until I asked Jesus to come into my life. The more I trust and obey Him, my pain and things, which I thought weren't worth anything have become useful for the Lord. You see the Lord takes all our trash and turns it into gold. Now I know that God is building the characteristics of Christ through my pain. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What makes me so thankful is that He suffered and died for me. So with that, any suffering or working out of my faith produces the likeness of Christ in me. Also, my troubles are nothing more than a momentary affliction. When I look back at all the things I've done while in the streets, in prison, all alone and lost trying to fill my empty heart; I can see now with open eyes that He patiently waited while keeping me from harm and death without His love. He brought my mother and me together after many years of separation. He knows all our desires and wants us to have them according to His will. I thank the Lord for all the people praying for me all these years. I LOVE YOU ALL AND THE CHRIST IN YOU.
Luis
Coming from the streets and homeless, I was introduced to Christ. That's all it took. Today, I have Christ in me and I thank the Lord and the Open Door Mission for all they have done. Today, I have a vision and purpose to serve the Lord.
Paul
I came to the Christian Life Program at the Open Door Mission, September 14, 2005. When I got here I was on parole for the third time, lost my apartment and job and I was addicted to crack-cocaine. I was expecting to bide my time until I was off parole. During my first couple of months in the Mission I gained some needed weight and enjoyed the company of people that genuinely loved me.
While in the program I admittedly used drugs one more time. It was horrible and absolutely the last time. I knew if I wanted any joy in my life I had to choose Jesus. From that day forward I did what was asked of me and found what I've always been looking which was peace, love, and joy in my heart. I've spent the last year getting closer to Jesus by studying his Word, praying, and being mentored by my Pastor.
Now I've graduated from the Mission program and have moved on to the Phase II where I'm working in the Mission's maintenance department as an intern. I can't begin to thank the Open Door Mission for all they've done for me. They have helped me get my life back on track.
Raul
After seven years of drug abuse, I had no life at all feeling physically and spiritually broken. I had been in different programs, all of which brought no success. My life was a mess. I had no where to turn until I started to go to Open Door Mission for food and shelter.
While I was there I started to listen to the bible teachings. I later became a Christian and entered the Mission's recovery program. The staff and other residents accepted me as one of their family. They cared for me and taught me the Word of God and how to trust God to set me free from drugs.
Today I am a new man serving the Lord with hope and love. I thank God for the counsel of the staff and residents of Open Door Mission. They helped make a difference in my life showing me what love really means through Jesus Christ my Savior.
I am happy to say that today I am free from drugs, because I have God living in me. I will always have a family at Open Door Mission.
Ron
After approximately 18 years of drug and alcohol abuse I was completely broken mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I had tried many times to make a new start, but always with failure. I was truly on the verge of giving up on life itself. The Mission would by my last ditch effort to get free from my addictions. When I came into the recovery program my expectation level was not all that great, but there was something different about the Mission . It was the people who genuinely cared about me and who really wanted me to succeed. Thanks to my Mission family who taught me what it means to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, today I am drug free serving the Lord to the best of my ability and living with hope and purpose.
Tim
Tim has volunteered to try something new for us. He has delivered his testimonial in his own words. We offer to you the chance to hear Tim speak his testimonial by following the link below.
Hello my name is Tim. I grew up in a Christian home attending weekly church and Sunday school classes. I even attended a Christian school for the first fourteen years of my life. For most of my younger years I knew who God was, but knowing Him is one thing, having Him take up residents in your heart is another. I lacked the later of the two. Here's my story of how I learned why religion was not the answer.
At fourteen years old I carried the coffin of my best friend. At nineteen years old I lost my father. At twenty-two years old I lost my sister. Death was all around me. I couldn't handle the pain of losing people I loved and cared for. I became addicted to drugs and was using daily. I eventually lost my job as a successful union plumber. At thirty-eight years old I found myself in the criminal court system blaming God and everyone else, except myself for my loses and bad choices.
While attending a church service at the county jail, the preacher running the service said that the only way to truly change your life for the better is to first surrender yourself to God and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart. Funny thing, but after all my early years of going to church and Sunday school it wasn't until now that I finally got it. Religion was not what I needed. I needed a relationship with my Creator through His Son who died for my all the wrongs in my life, so I could make things right with God. It was at that point that I asked Christ into my heart. Little did I know that my life would never be the same again.
Shortly after my decision to follow Christ I was transferred to Elmira prison. Getting up one morning in my cell I looked out on the street and finally understood what it meant to be free from within. Even though I was behind bars I felt a peace and freedom with myself and with God that I never felt before.
Finally, the day came that I made parole. I was released from prison to go live with my mother. I started work again as a plumber. I found a church that I liked and starting attending services regularly. I was doing very well spiritually and emotionally until I found myself in an unhealthy relationship with a woman I thought I loved. In the relationship I found myself being tempted to do things I knew were not who I was anymore. I made the mistake of using drugs again and became very depressed in my failure to remain true to my decision for Christ. The hopelessness seemed to much to bear and I attempted to take my own life, but by the grace and plan of God, I failed. At 3:00am I woke from my attempt at suicide in an institution hearing a small voice telling me to go to Open Door Mission in Rochester, NY. At this point I would do anything to get back on track so that's where I went.
Upon arriving at Open Door Mission I applied to enter the Christian Life substance abuse recovery program. Eventually after a year's time I would successfully complete the program and graduate. Now that I look back the voice in my head that morning at the institution telling me to go to the Mission was truly God's voice. It took thirty-eight years of drug use, prison life and countless suicide attempts for me to finally realize how much God loved me, but thank God He always had a hand on my life. I also thank God for my mother who never gave up on me and continued to pray for me.
The lessons I've learned from being a follower of Christ are the greatest lessons of my life. What I mostly understand from my setback while being a Christian is that to surrender yourself to Christ also requires a commitment to follow His will clearly stated in His Word.
Today I stand fully committed to Jesus Christ who has delivered me from a life style of hopelessness, addiction and death. I thank God for bringing me to the Open Door Mission, for changing my heart, giving me a purpose and a desire to go wherever he leads me and to serve and please Him in all I do.
My heart of appreciation goes out to all the staff at the Mission and for their compassion, guidance and strength they showed me since the first day I walked through the door. I also want to extend my gratitude to all those who support this outreach with their faithful donations. If you never knew before what your contributions do to help people like me, now you know first hand what you've done to help restore hope and life.
Tim
I was living with a close friend locally in Rochester who was battling cancer. Another roommate who was also living with us was using crack as a drug of choice. One day I chose to experiment with crack thinking it would help me deal with difficulties that were happening in my life, primarily the loss of my mother to cancer and now my close friend and roommate who was also battling cancer. My misery began to pile up…. I lost my job due to cutbacks at my place of employment and unemployment money ran out. After a short stay at another apartment I learned about the Open Door Mission and decided to find shelter there. For a number of weeks I was signing up for a bed through DSS. When I didn't get one I would sleep outdoors in a bus shelter.
During my evenings at the Mission I would find myself talking to some of the staff. They encouraged me to consider getting off the street and off drugs so I could start a new life. They also encouraged me to considering the idea of asking God to help me through my difficulties. Upon making a somewhat half-hearted decision to improve my life I applied for the Mission's Christian Life program. I managed to stick it out for about two weeks and decided it was a little to much for me to conform to. I was still very much addicted to crack and wasn't ready to give up on the habit, so I decided to leave the program.
After dismissing myself from the program I was back on the street signing up for beds again at the Mission shelter. This went on for another 3-6 months. At this point I had just about all I could take of this lifestyle. I finally got real with God and prayed for his help and guidance. I went cold turkey and gave up my crack habit with no side effects. I enrolled back into the Mission program…..this time for good!
I've since graduated from the Mission program and foresee myself with a much brighter future. My immediate goals are to now continue to develop my relationship with God, find employment and my own place to live. The mission program gave me back the life I knew before I was using drugs. The mission also helped me to put aside all my false accusations about God. They helped me develop a true understanding of who God really is and what he can do for a person who is willing to submit to him.
Deirdre
I've been a long term resident of the Open Door Mission for the past seventeen years now. While living here, I've also been working for the mission in their housekeeping department. I work in the laundry area to help provide clean clothing and linens for our short term residents. I really enjoy serving the Lord in this way. I have developed many wonderful friendships over the years. The Open Door Mission is not only my home and my job, it's my family always there to support me and help put a smile on my face.
John
I lost my marriage, job, home, and car due to a drug addictive lifestyle. This was my wake up call and it was at this point I stopped using drugs, but I was in a serious state of depression.
When my wife and kids left, I became a shut-in. My father, friends and even former co-workers were concerned about me, but I wasn't interested in getting help or talking to anyone. I literally went into seclusion and even became suicidal.
In the final weeks of living in my home, before being evicted because of foreclosure, my father persisted in making sure I was all right. He had the city police check up on me now and then to make sure I had enough food to eat and that I was still alive. When I was finally removed from my home I walked out the front door with just four suitcases of clothing. A more humbling experience I could not imagine.
My father gave me enough money to stay at a hotel while I continued to look for a job. After six months my dad could no longer finance my hotel living quarters. It was at that time that my former co-workers offered to finance living quarters for me at another hotel. After a couple more months my former co-workers suggested I find a place to sleep at the Open Door Mission, so they dropped me off at the men's shelter on West Main Street.
Again, here I was standing outside, in front of another doorway, with my four suitcases of clothing. After almost four months of living at the Mission I finally made the decision to enter the Christian Life program, not because of a drug or alcohol problem, but to just get my life back. After fifteen months in the program I graduated. In the Aftercare Phase II program, I began working in the Mission's internship program assisting the staff at the men's shelter.
The Mission did more than restore my life! It gave me the truth about God and what the bible teaches about living by faith. I realized that the life changing truths in the bible and what God had done for me personally, are what I had been searching for all my life.
Within five years from now, I would hope to be employed in this ministry or something similar. As I grow in my faith, I would like to help in the area of fund raising and public relations to raise more public awareness about ministries that serve the Lord like the Mission.
Bill & James
The young brothers Bill (left) and James (right) grew up in Canandaigua, NY. By the time they were in their teens their parents had moved the family to Rochester. James was attending Monroe High School, because of specific educational needs, while Bill was attending East High School.
In 1963 the brothers lost their 49 year old father to a fatal heart attack. Bill and James now had to live and care for their mother. In 1977, while Bill was out of work all together, James was injured in a work related accident and had to go on permanent disability leaving both of them unemployed.
After their mom died of cancer in 1997 the brothers moved to a couple of different houses in the city until they finally moved in to stay with their aunt on Merrimac Street, right here in Rochester. Eventually their aunt moved out to go live with her son, leaving Bill and James, who were still out of work, to live on just SSI money and food stamps.
In 2007 the house they lived in together was condemned by the state because of unsafe conditions and they were evicted. When the house was boarded up they found themselves homeless and had to move to the Mission men's shelter. In January 2008, James was diagnosed with lung cancer. James had to have a place to live while receiving treatments. The brothers spoke to Ron Fox and the Mission made arrangements for both men to live at the Caring Center. After successful treatments the cancer was declared completely gone and James received a clean bill of health.
Bill and James are now residing at the Mission Caring Center in the long-term residents program.
Mike
For years Mike struggled with an addiction that offered nothing but despair, gloom and darkness. Eventually, he found himself at a local men's shelter. After finally overcoming his addiction he started getting involved with the "Work Experience Program" offered through the DSS welfare office.
One of Mike's first assignments was to volunteer in the clothing distribution area at the Mission. Mike state's, "Working at the Mission has given my life a sense of meaning and value. It's opened my eyes and heart to the needs of others. The Mission has helped me see what real compassion for others is all about. I've also learned that true compassion comes from God, therefore my faith in God has become more real.
Mike has made dramatic changes in his life, but the most important change is his new found faith in Jesus Christ. His service to God and his fellow man are what make our community a better place for everyone.
Jimmy
Jimmy grew up in Corning, New York. At his present age of 64, Jimmy has a long history of personal mental challenges due to his condition with epilepsy. It's for that reason he can only remember attending school through seventh grade.
In 1955, he spent the first of twenty years in the Sonyea Mental Institution in Livingston County. "Back then they didn't know what to do with patients with epilepsy. They just put you away from society somewhere," Jimmy said.
At around twenty years of age he would move from the institution to live in a number of group homes in the Rochester area. Jimmy found work in Rochester area restaurants until his physical disabilities, including blindness in one eye made it to difficult to maintain any job.
Eventually, in 1984 with no where to go and no one to turn to, Jimmy found peace, comfort, warmth and a place he could finally call home… that place was Open Door Mission.
While living at the Mission's Men's Crisis Housing Center on West Main Street, Jimmy became known as "Jimmy One Scoop". He acquired this nick name, because it was Jimmy's responsibility to make sure that everyone received just one scoop of sugar in their coffee cup in order for the Mission to ration its sugar supplies.
For the many years Jimmy has lived at the Mission he was able to make some incredible accomplishments. Jimmy was committed to finishing his education and worked hard with great self-determination to complete and earn his GED at the Family Learning Center. In 2002, he also earned a Student of the Year Award from the New York Association for Continuing /Community Education.
Jimmy's life has been a long and difficult road with many ups and downs, but his faith and perseverance have always been the determining factor for his well-being. When I sat down to ask Jimmy what the Open Door Mission has meant to him all these year's he had only three words to say. Jimmy said, "It's my home."
Kenny
Kenny knew the Open Door Mission did a big Thanksgiving dinner because he
would see it on TV every year. But until crack cocaine sent his life spinning out of control, he never thought he'd be one of our guests! A good student who was doing well in school, Kenny smoked his first marijuana joint when he was 13 or 14. "After that, I didn't want to go to school anymore; didn't want to do sports." Kenny ran away from home in Hilton and lived in a refrigerator box. "I was scared and I used to cry myself to sleep at night until I got used to it."
Kenny soon gave up marijuana – for alcohol and crack cocaine! "Crack cocaine took me to the place where I robbed my mother at knifepoint. I took her to the bank and made her withdraw money," he recalls. Kenny also pushed his family away. "I was abused by my father physically and mentally…and when it came to the point where I had my own children, I started mentally abusing them. I was being obnoxious and stupid and foolish. I didn't know any better, but I was wrong, " he says.
Homeless and without a friend in the world, Kenny came downtown and moved into the subway. "One morning I woke and there was a rat crawling on me. Nobody loved me. Nobody wanted me. I decided to kill myself." But as he was walking by the river, Kenny heard a voice. "God spoke to me and said, 'Take my hand and I will show you the way.'" "The way" was the Open Door Mission's Christian Life and Substance Abuse Program.
But to be successful, Kenny knew he needed to be submissive to God as his "ultimate authority." "God is not a hard God, He just expects us to show Him love and reverence. So I really had to fight that struggle. If I can't be submissive to Him, then I can't love Him? Then how can I expect to be blessed?" Kenny's still working on being submissive, but his struggle with drugs is over. "God has set me free."
Tony
Tony was introduced to drugs and alcohol at a very early age. "My mother was an alcoholic and my father was a workaholic. They took care of us, but I had a lot of responsibility taking care of my brothers and sisters. I started getting high on a regular basis when I was 13 or 14." Tony describes his younger self as a "small" guy who "wore glasses" and was "book smart." "I became an over-achiever in sports because that's where I got a lot of 'well dones!' that I didn't get at home," he recalls.
By the time he went into the military, Tony was experimenting with a lot of different drugs. When he came back from combat, he started dealing drugs. Then he started using them. "I got hooked on cocaine." Tony's marriage had
fallen apart when he was in the military and when he came home he started
leading "the party life." The party life led to the street life, which led to losing things, like his family, his relationships and his reputation. Before he knew it, Tony was an addict.
Over the next twenty five years, Tony came to the Open Door Mission often. "I always knew that the Mission was there: a place to sleep, get clothing, get a bath and a meal. And you always got the Word every night." Tony's first try at rehab was in 1983. He tried nearly 30 different programs but he always ended up back on the street. Eventually, his lifestyle caught up with him. I got sick and
almost died. The doctors were asking who my next of kin were!" "I am not afraid to die in battle. I am not afraid to die to protect something. But how you die dictates how you're going to live for eternity. That's what I was afraid of," says Tony.
Tony believes that God has given him another chance through the Mission's Christian Life and Substance Abuse Program. "Through the grace of God, this
place has offered me stability. I started giving myself to God, to prayer and becoming a member of a church…and God started restoring things in my life!"
Today, Tony's children are back in his life. "They call me for birthday parties, Christmas, Thanksgiving. We're getting to know each other and I'm learning
what it is to be a dad. The Mission has offered me a place to meet God and to be stationary enough to let God speak to me… and let me carry His message to others."