Every year on Valentine’s Day, Tommy Evans celebrates something special: his sobriety, which started in 2007. That was the day he began the residential recovery program at The Healing Place Tommy speaks highly of his family and his upbringing. Drinking in high school led to drug experimentation in college, which led to regular heroin and […]
Meet Umiah. She’s sitting in her new apartment in a chair from the CARITAS Furniture Bank. She just moved in last week with her two sons: a 19-month old and 12-year old. She has a new apartment because her former living situation became violent. Case managers from YWCA and Hanover Safe Place introduced Umiah to […]
If you’ve dropped off a Furniture Bank donation or scheduled a pick up, then you may have met Samuel. He’s a member of our warehouse team and an AmeriCorps service member for CARITAS. “He’s high energy and such a hard worker,” says Warehouse Manager Lori Schmiege. At 65, Samuel’s enthusiasm is infectious, she says. “I […]
Sur has been in and out of active addiction for more than 30 years. He was 10 years old when he first tried marijuana. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. His uncle and father were drug dealers. Naturally, he admired and idolized them. “I really loved school and always excelled,” he said. As he […]
David remembers taking his first drink. He was 10 or 11. He reached into his father’s liquor cabinet and gave it try. After that, he didn’t touch alcohol again until he was 14. He didn’t know then, but his father was an alcoholic. After his family moved to Pennsylvania, David earned a spot on the […]
Paris first tried heroin when he was 18. “Me and my friends were trying to get into the drug game,” he said. “We could go to the club and see all the big boys and try to emulate them: jewelry, cars, and drugs.” The “big boys” would sniff heroin and cocaine, he said. One night, […]
