{

“It’s what God has done within me.”

Michael grew up in the KC area. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother remarried multiple times. But it wasn’t until he was 22 that a brother-in-law introduced him to cocaine.

From there, Michael progressed to meth, which eventually led to medical problems, incarceration and homelessness.

“I was here at the Mission in 2018 and 2023,” Michael remembers. “Just as an overnight guest. I wasn’t ready for the program yet.” Michael’s final visit came in June of last year. “I had been released from prison where I had completed a six-month drug program.”

After being released, watching an ex-girlfriend get high was Michael’s wake-up call. “Watching her made me want to get high,” he remembers. “So, I came to Shelter KC to avoid going back to prison.”

Michael was admitted to our C-COR program – Christian Community of Recovery – for those battling life-controlling addictions.

“I thought this was going to be just another program,” he says. “But the other programs I tried before weren’t based on Christ. I learned that my drug addiction wasn’t my deepest problem. It was a result of my need for God.”

“Being at Shelter KC got me started on my journey seeking God and doing my daily devotion. It’s a recovery program, but I was reading about and studying Jesus Christ in the classes. That really helped.”

“I thought I knew who I was,” Michael says today. “But God showed me I can’t do this on my own. I need to have my support team around me, and that’s one thing Shelter KC has shown me. It’s not what I’ve done.
It’s what God has done within me.

Michael got baptized this summer and has graduated from C-COR. He’s staying here on a transitional basis as he starts trade school through Goodwill to get a certifi cate in manufacturing. He’s also restoring ties with his family.