“I started using weed when I was 16,” Jesse remembers. “My dad hurt his back and was taking OxyContin. He shared them with me and my addiction kind of...

“Dorrine grew up in an extremely abusive home in Baltimore. “My mom started abusing me at the age of six,” she remembers. “I was different. I didn’t look like...

“There was a lot of physical and mental abuse,” Anthony remembers of his early years. “I thought that’s how life was.” “From the age of 7, my life was...

DeMarco grew up in a single-parent home here in KC. Although he was exposed to church and religion “it didn’t take root.” Instead, he spent his time in “the...

Liz swore she would never be like her father, a violent alcoholic and drug addict at whose hands she suffered every kind of abuse. Her escape was alcohol. “I liked the...

Eric doesn’t remember much about the horrific accident that put him in the hospital, just that he collided with a jackknifed semi. “I hit him in the wheels and not...

What leads people to become addicted to drugs or alcohol? In Willi’s case, it may have been watching his father, who was an alcoholic. Or being introduced to marijuana...

Marilyn grew up in a very strict religious home. “We weren’t exposed to alcohol...we weren’t supposed to drink or dance. I was the oldest and a preacher’s kid, so...

Shelter KC offers a 9-month discipleship & recovery program called C-COR (Christian Community of Recovery). Frank is a military veteran who's suffered from a long-term, unhealthy relationship with alcohol. He's...

Tommie grew up in a good family but rebelled at a young age against the strict rules his father had set.  “I didn’t like rules,” he remembers. “My dad...