Johnny’s parents separated when he was 10 years old. From that point on, Johnny started doing “his own things” and found himself getting into more and more trouble. “I didn’t want to go to school and things like that,” Johnny said. At 14, Johnny ran away from home and was homeless.

His rebellion lead to using drugs and alcohol. Johnny’s addiction got worse when he injured his back and was prescribed opioids to deal with the pain. Johnny was even prescribed the highly addictive Methadone to treat his injury. “After about 7 years of doctors feeding me pill after pill, I found myself really bad out there,” Johnny says.

Johnny spent years “functioning” as an addict but ultimately, he couldn’t keep up with work and his addiction. His addiction finally caught up with him and Johnny ended up serving 5 years in jail. When it was getting closer to his release date, Johnny started looking at his options. “I was getting older. When I got here, I knew that it was time to change all my life.” After jail, he came to the Mission looking for shelter but he ended up finding so much more. 

“I had to change ’cause I was getting too old for this. I think about 2 Corinthians says when I was a child, I did childish things. Now that I’m a man I need to own up and that’s what I did,” says Johnny. It was at a local men’s event that Johnny surrendered and gave his life to Christ. “And that feeling that was just so much better than any drug I had ever taken.” A few months later, Johnny asked Pastor Larry to baptize him. 

After finishing the program, Johnny moved to our TLC campus and worked as a mechanic. He came back to the Mission to work in our maintenance department and now has the opportunity to teach, minister, and share his testimony with other men in need. “I don’t think I’d be alive today if things hadn’t turned the way that they did and I’m grateful.”