Sharing Hope

I haven’t always been the man I am today. I’ve made bad decisions. I’ve hurt people. I’ve been addicted. I’ve been incarcerated. I’ve fallen down, gotten back up, and sometimes fallen again. But God wasn’t finished with me.

SHARING HOPE: Faith, Recovery & the Purpose Behind the Journey is not the story of a perfect man who figured life out. It is an honest journey through addiction, incarceration, recovery, faith, family, education, ministry, service, and the lessons I learned along the way.

I grew up loved, but I also grew up seeing things I didn’t fully understand. Addiction. Alcoholism. Dysfunction. Violence. Faith. Strength. Survival. Like a lot of families, mine wasn’t just one thing. Somewhere along the way, the streets became part of my life. Bad decisions brought consequences. Addiction became a reality. Incarceration became part of my story. But none of them became the end of my story.

I learned that changing your surroundings doesn’t automatically change what’s inside you. Getting out of prison isn’t the same as being free. Recovery is more than putting drugs or alcohol down. Faith doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes easy. Your past may explain parts of your story, but it does not have to determine how your story ends.

There were times I had to look in the mirror and stop blaming everybody else. I had to take responsibility for Levi. Understanding where my wounds came from didn’t excuse what I did with them. Grace gave me another chance. Accountability taught me what to do with it.

Some of my greatest lessons didn’t come from a classroom or a pulpit. They came through mistakes, consequences, relationships, recovery, quiet conversations with God, and learning to get back up after life—and sometimes my own choices—knocked me down.

What once looked like it would disqualify me became part of my purpose.

I went back to school after 50. I combined lived experience with education and became a counselor, peer supporter, community health worker, minister, mentor, and nonprofit founder. I began using some of the hardest chapters of my life to help people walking through their own.

The pain taught me compassion. The mistakes taught me accountability. Recovery taught me perseverance. Faith taught me grace. Service taught me purpose. Through it all, I learned the power of hope.

Today, through Community Resources United Sharing Hope (CRUSH), I work alongside people impacted by addiction, incarceration, homelessness, trauma, mental health challenges, and other barriers. I’ve learned not to count anybody out. I don’t see a hopeless addict, an inmate number, or a person defined by their circumstances. I see a human being in a chapter of their life. And chapters change.

I’ve seen people come back from places others thought were too far gone. Sometimes people don’t need another person telling them what’s wrong with them. They need somebody willing to meet them where they are, listen without judgment, and remind them that change is still possible.

This book is for the person trying to come home, get clean, rebuild after incarceration, break generational cycles, wrestle with faith, forgive themselves, or believe that God can still use their life.

Can God still use me after everything I’ve done? Can I rebuild? Can my pain become part of my purpose? Is it too late to change?

I don’t have every answer. I’m still walking my own journey. But I know this: As long as you’re still breathing, there’s still hope. Your worst chapter does not have to become your final chapter.

Hope found me in places I never expected. Grace met me where I was, but it didn’t leave me there. My prayer is that somewhere in these pages, my journey speaks to yours and reminds you that your life still has value, your story still has purpose, and God is not finished with you yet.

And when somebody helps you find hope, don’t keep it to yourself. SHARE IT.