December 2021 Newsletter

The Power of Possibility

Daniel is awake in the wee hours of the morning heading off to a day of “heavy-haul” driving.

“When you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life,” shares Daniel, as he shakes his head in disbelief. “I could not have imagined this life a year and a half ago.”

Daniel arrived at the Mission in June of 2020 with tattered clothing and bare feet.

“I was living in a tent, under a bridge,” he says. “My family had no idea where I was and if I was even alive.” 

Daniel came to the Eugene Mission to escape the violence and chaos of living on the streets.

“It’s all about survival and watching your back out there,” shares Daniel. “I tried to end my life four times out there. Something inside me said ‘go to the Mission.’”

Daniel grew up in a home filled with violence.

“My dad constantly beat my sister and me,” he shares. “Why would someone hurt a child?”

As Daniel shares his story, he shakes his head and looks down. 

“I’ve had to work through a ton of trauma to get to where I am today,” he says.

Daniel’s journey to the Life Change Program shares many characteristics that are common to our Eugene Mission guests: trauma, childhood sexual abuse, chaos and substance abuse.

“My dad gave me my first beer when I was four years old,” says Daniel. “My sister and I were sexually abused by a babysitter. There was a lot of violence. I’ve had to work through that, talk about it, acknowledge what happened to me, trust God and move forward.”  

Daniel is fifteen months into the Life Change Program at the Eugene Mission. The program is a structured, intensive residential relapse prevention program. Guests in the program work through five phases that build upon one another in an intentional progression. Now in the fifth and final phase of the program, Daniel is living in an apartment on the Mission campus in “simulated independence” as he saves money to move into his own home.

Daniel is also a veteran having enlisted in the Army at age 17. Three days after finishing bootcamp, the Twin Towers were attacked, and Daniel was sent to Iraq. When Daniel arrived back in the USA, his life was a compilation of traumas. Drugs and alcohol became a way to “go numb.”

“I isolated myself with a small group of people all doing the same thing: using,” says Daniel. “Living in the Life Change house is the longest stretch of sobriety I have had that I can recall. Fifteen months.”

As Daniel declares this, he breaks into an enormous smile. 

“The restoration of an individual to healthy community is best addressed in a nimble and profoundly relational manner,” says Eugene Mission Executive Director Sheryl Balthrop. “Publicly funded initiatives do not currently favor a relational, structured approach. These elements are crucial for growth and restoration.”  

“The Mission believed in me,” shares Daniel. “I’m not just a number, I’m a person. The encouragement and support have helped heal me. I have learned that I am loved by God and I matter.”

Daniel loves trucks and he loves driving, so it was natural that he set his sights on obtaining a Commercial Driver License. Daniel worked with his Life Change support team to resolve outstanding legal issues and fines he racked up while trapped in addiction.

As Daniel progressed in the Life Change Program, he achieved a partial scholarship to 160 Driving Academy with the help of Goodwill’s Veterans Reintegration Program. With another $2,500 to raise for tuition, Mission staff worked with Daniel and the generosity of a scholarship program provided by a donor who wanted to help guests over that final “hump.”

“When you teach a man to fish, he will fish for a lifetime,” says Program Director Denver Harris. “But it helps if you give him a fishing pole!”

Daniel now drives chip trucks for Walsh Trucking. He is hardworking, dependable and sober.

With a steaming cup of coffee and an enormous smile, Daniel jumps into the truck he purchased with his own paychecks and heads to work.

“Everything I have is because of God and the help of donors,” says Daniel. “My clothing, my apartment…everything. What the Mission gave me in one word is ‘Possibility.’”

As the season of Christmas approaches, all of us at the Eugene Mission are grateful for the community of donors and volunteers who support our programs and our work to help restore the lives of our guests. Merry Christmas! Thank you!