Kevin's Story

Kevin sat in a dark prison cell thinking back over his life…This wasn’t his first incarceration. “I was a career drug user, career criminal. Everything I did in my life was geared around drugs, alcohol, theft, being dishonest,” he reflects. Many of Kevin’s life choices were driven out of a deep place of hurt and anger. He was raised by a single mother and forced to become “man of the house” at a young age. His mother’s boyfriends were in and out of his life. “It was pretty chaotic. Drugs and alcohol played a big part — and physical abuse, mental abuse, and sexual abuse,” explains Kevin.

A loving father figure was something he never knew, so Kevin protected himself. He put up walls around his heart. And he made a vow: “Don’t trust men because they’re bigger and stronger and they can hurt you. They’ve been hurting your mother and your brother.”

Covering pain

Then Kevin promised himself, “When I get big enough, I’m going to be the strongest, baddest man I could ever be so that nobody will ever hurt me again.” And drugs, crime, and aggression became his hiding place — a cover around a place of pain. There in the solace of the prison cell, he realized his self-protective efforts were futile. He’d even lost his own children to his addiction. “My rock bottom was when I chose drugs and alcohol over my children. I was in such a dark place. I couldn’t pull myself out and ended up losing my children to the state,” Kevin shares.

Hope for a different path felt elusive. Until a fellow prisoner told him, “If you really want to change, there’s this place called Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. It’s downtown. It’s the best place ever. I have a guy there that’s in the prison ministry. I can tell him about you.”

The next day, someone from the Mission’s prison ministry came to visit Kevin. And after learning more about the men’s recovery program, Kevin knew it was exactly where he was supposed to be. “On the day I got released, I got on the bus and came downtown to the Mission. I was scared. I was nervous.” But in spite of his fears, Kevin felt a peace that surpassed his understanding. As he walked through the doors, he remembers, “I knew from that very moment that I had found something good. I grabbed onto it and I refused to let go — and that’s the love of Jesus Christ.”

Learning to forgive

And through the beautiful process of surrender, the love of Jesus helped Kevin take down the walls of his heart…to let hope in…to let healing in. Through mentorship with the men at the Mission, he’s learned to forgive those who have hurt him. “My chaplain has been tearing down those thoughts I have about men and really showing me that not every man is that way and letting me know it’s okay to be caring and trusting and to be the best person that you can be,” he shares.

Now, in the Culinary Hospitality Internship Program, Kevin’s passing on his newfound hope to others coming to the Mission for a meal. “I work in the kitchen. I absolutely love what I do. Guys come in hungry and leave with a smile on their face,” Kevin says joyfully. He’s thankful he gets to love and care for our community in the name of Christ.