“I felt like I was damaged, like I was invisible...”

Scott grew up in a stable middle-class family. Although Scott never knew his biological dad, his stepdad entered the picture when he was around six years old and loved him like his own son. 

Still, Scott always felt there was something missing in his life. “I felt like I was damaged, like I was invisible. There was some sort of loss that I couldn't put my finger on, that I now realize was not being able to have a relationship with my biological dad.”

Scott began experimenting with alcohol when he was 16. Soon he was drinking until he’d black out, often while smoking marijuana. Pot was more than Scott’s gateway drug, it was a gateway to meeting new people who were using other substances — cocaine, amphetamines, and heroin.

Perfect storm

Around this time, Scott’s brother and role model, Bob, returned from the Vietnam War. “That was a perfect storm. Bobby was struggling with coming back from Vietnam. He had a lot of resentments. I was this young, 19-year-old kid who's self-medicating, trying to fill a big old hole in me that I didn't understand.”

Together they started using almost any drug they could get their hands on. “We lost our apartment. We lost people who’d let us stay with them. Ultimately, we were homeless, living in the desert on a mattress shooting heroin for a couple of years.”

One night, it all nearly ended. Both brothers wound up in the hospital fighting for their lives. Scott says, “I remember looking over at my brother and thinking, ‘Hey, this is the end of the story, our last chapter."

A new beginning

While he was still in the intensive care unit, Scott’s family made arrangements for him to come to the Men’s Recovery Program at Seattle's Union Gospel Mission. Soon Bob joined him.

“The Mission saved my life,” Scott says. “I know that's a cliché. I know it's really Christ who does the work. But there were some men who gathered around me, and they were champions for me. They could see things in me that I couldn't. I think it was their love and grace that helped me get from one day to the next, to where I am today.”

Free of drugs and alcohol for 24 years, today Scott is the Vice President of Program Ministries. Bob, also successful in his recovery, works as a chemical dependency professional helping juvenile offenders.

“Our program is unique,” Scott says, “in that it’s a year long. It’s a strategy that works for people who haven’t done well in other treatment programs. The other thing that makes lasting change possible is we’re faith-based. We just believe that Jesus makes a difference in people’s lives.”

The Men’s Recovery Program addresses root causes that lead to addiction, such as abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Once those issues are addressed, people are find hope for a new life and  break free from addiction.

“It’s so exciting for me to know that God is using me to help men get reunited with Him,” Scott says. “Every day I’m blessed to be able to help them get back on the path of life.”