Homeless, Carl hugged the side of the bus shelter and wrapped his blankets tighter around himself. He could feel the icy stares of people standing around him as they waited for their bus to arrive, making him feel even more alone.

It was just another day trying to survive on the streets. “It gives me chills thinking about it now,” Carl says of his life.

Thanks to you, all of that is behind him.

Your care gave him a way out of the desperate place in which he had landed—a life of unbearable suffering masked by drugs and alcohol.

No matter how many times he tried to escape his past, it ensnared him again. Carl felt like he lived in a cycle from which he could never escape—just one dead-end job after another experienced in a fog of chemicals.

One frightening day, Carl took a handful of medication and walked out the door. He landed in the hospital, where a kind stranger handed him a brochure for the Christ Recovery Center and encouraged him to give life another chance.

Carl has never looked back.

“I could never be homeless again,” Carl says. “God gave me a way out because He knew I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Every day, he’s inspired by the people around him who work so hard on improving their lives.  And being at the Mission has provided him a new perspective on his past.

“Why did all these horrible things happen to me?” Carl asks. “To get me here. Miracles are happening every day around me. People inspire me. If I get upset about something it only affects my attitude or my emotions until I pray.”

After spending many months homeless, Carl appreciates the little things that the Mission has provided for him: a bed, a dresser, and the chance to take a shower every day. And he’s grateful.

Thanks to you, Carl says, “Life is good today. I have hope for the future.”