How Patrick Found Healing + Life After Graduation at the Mission

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Patrick felt dead inside. Lost. He’d tried to get clean from addiction. But failed every time. 

For as long as he could remember, Patrick had struggled to stay sober. “Pretty much all of my life, I was just like this functioning addict.” 

Patrick held down handyman jobs. But beneath his functioning exterior, Patrick was in turmoil. “The Bible talks about this restless discontent. That’s where I found myself.” 

Hardest of all, Patrick’s problems with heroin had placed him in prison. Again. And again. 

Then, at his lowest, Patrick found himself living on the streets. “Homelessness in the cold weather was terrible. You’re alone, without family, and without purpose. It hurts.” 

“I knew how to fix a lot of things,” Patrick admits. But he just couldn’t fix himself. 

Finally, Patrick’s corrections officer gave him a choice: “You can go back to jail. Or you can come up with a plan that includes treatment.” That’s when Patrick reached out to a friend at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. 

Patrick was the first to admit that entering the Men’s Recovery Program initially was his card to get out of jail. However, once at the Mission, Patrick discovered all that his life was missing. 

“The Mission experience was like a family. There were even special meals on  holidays.” 

FINDING HEALING 

Most importantly, Patrick found the root of his drug dependency — and began to heal. “The problem was my broken relationships with God and with people.”