LISTEN ONLINE: Darryl’s Story
“You know, I didn’t even know what the word homeless meant. You don’t pay much attention when you’re on the other side. Next thing I know, I’m on a park bench. I’m sleeping behind dumpsters. It was a nightmare, it was a nightmare.”
When Darryl’s mother and grandfather passed away quickly, it rocked his world. In taking time to be with family, he was also away from work too much and ended up loosing his job. From there, the spiral of poverty began taking its toll.
“I lost my job first. That was the most important one. I’d been there 25 years. Next thing you know, my house was in foreclosure because I couldn’t make my house payments. I lost my home. Then I lost my car. Then I lost my license. But it all happened at once and it all happened within a two month span. So I went from being totally employed, having a solid home and a good family – to zero.”
Because of your generous compassion and support of Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan, Darryl found a place to go where he could heal and could put the pieces of his life back together.
“Ya, I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been to other shelters before and they’re like 30 days and out, 90 days and out, no programs, you’re on your own for seeking employment and all that stuff. When I got here, the first thing I noticed was I got sat down and I was told ‘look, you can either just go right through here and bounce out to another shelter or you can take advantage of what we’ve got to offer.’ And I said I’m one of those guys that wants to get back out there and I want to take advantage of what you’ve got to offer.”
Along with finding healing, a job, and a place to live, Darryl also found hope in Christ at the Mission. He learned that God loves him and has a plan for moving him forward.
“Again, He’s given me opportunity to get my life back together, but He’s letting me do it. Once I started making a step, all of a sudden all these doors opened up and you could just tell something was going on, you know. It’s like every time I needed something, it showed up. Every time I prayed about something, there it was. The people that work here care. The people here will all help you, you’re assigned a case manager. They’ve ALL helped me in different ways. All of them. But, you know, they all contribute and the programs they offer, they do work, if you want to put the effort into it. It’s there for you to use.”