George: When I was homeless in Los Angeles, what was on my mind was, “My family would be better off without me.”
I’ve been using since I was in my teens. I didn’t think I would ever get better, I really didn’t. I figured I would die out there.
I came into addiction ever since I was 13 years old I was always interested in marijuana because the older guys in my school right were up, they were doing it. They were the cool people. It was a secret from my family. But amongst my friends and stuff, I was always the guy who had to take it to that next level ever since I was young.
The moment I would point to as my bottom moment would definitely be I was sleeping on sidewalks and it was just a total contrast from where my life used to be. I was at Penn State, I was studying cyber security at the Army ROTC.
I knew I needed help but the reason I also never went to actually get the help was because I was embarrassed. I was ashamed and I didn’t want to call my parents and say, “Hey, this is what’s going on.”
I’ve been to a lot of detox. I’ve been prior to 14 detoxes and 20 or so outpatients and none of them were like this. I’ve been to high-end ones too. None of them were like this. This program is so personalized and the owner Warren, he knows everybody. He knows every name that comes through here. I mean it really is a family; it’s one unit. And there’s a lot of relationships being forged here.
I’ve seen some miracles happen here, people who’ve done 20 years in prison they think there’s no future for them and that’s it. And it’s amazing how good people do here. It really is a big family and everyone knows each other. So I love this place.
