"Frank and I were living in an empty house. We had both been addicts for years, and I was supporting my drug habit through prostitution. We had burned all our bridges, and nobody really wanted to have anything to do with us. We had gone to church a few times, but decided not to go back. On the Monday or Tuesday after we hadn't gone back to the church, there was a knock on the door. I told Frank, 'Just make them go away', but before he could get to the door, there was a knock at the window. It was the pastor and a lady named Sally. When Frank opened the door, Sally just pushed him out of the way and came rushing into our little cat-hole like it was a mansion. She sat down on the side of the bed where I was and said, 'I don't know what's going on, but we miss you at church.' That's the first time anyone had ever missed me. I'm not very miss-able. Needless to say, we went back. At first, I kept thinking they wanted something from me, but they didn't. They just wanted the best for me. They accepted me where I was, still in my addiction, still living on the streets, not trying to do anything different. They always told me they loved me. Even when I was sick and broken, they accepted me. After a couple of years, they told me that they loved me, but I was better than that. They showed me the love I had never known. I never saw Jesus before that, or if I did, I didn't know it was him.
"Then, in April of 2009, I was attacked by a man trying to rob me of my money and my drugs, and I became afraid for the first time. I couldn't support my addiction anymore because I was afraid to go out. I got sober by myself, but after about six days of sobriety, I realized that 24 hours was a long time, and I didn't know how I was going to stay sober. So I picked up the Bible and some papers fell out. They were papers from HopeWorks that had been given me by a lady at church a while before, but I hadn't looked at them till then. I came to HopeWorks in May and told them during the interview: 'If you don't help me, I'm gonna die.' They let me in. The love from my church and from the people at HopeWorks made the difference for me.
"In May, I will graduate from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Human Services. I believe God kept me alive so I could help keep somebody else from going down same path or to help somebody know that if they're there, they don't have to stay there. Once I graduate, I'll be looking for a job in my field. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'll be selling myself in a different kind of way then, letting people know what I bring to the table."
"Then, in April of 2009, I was attacked by a man trying to rob me of my money and my drugs, and I became afraid for the first time. I couldn't support my addiction anymore because I was afraid to go out. I got sober by myself, but after about six days of sobriety, I realized that 24 hours was a long time, and I didn't know how I was going to stay sober. So I picked up the Bible and some papers fell out. They were papers from HopeWorks that had been given me by a lady at church a while before, but I hadn't looked at them till then. I came to HopeWorks in May and told them during the interview: 'If you don't help me, I'm gonna die.' They let me in. The love from my church and from the people at HopeWorks made the difference for me.
"In May, I will graduate from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Human Services. I believe God kept me alive so I could help keep somebody else from going down same path or to help somebody know that if they're there, they don't have to stay there. Once I graduate, I'll be looking for a job in my field. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'll be selling myself in a different kind of way then, letting people know what I bring to the table."
Pat and Frank are married now. Hopeworks, referred to in this piece, is a non-profit organization serving the under-resourced in the Memphis area, striving to "break the cycle of crime, addiction, and generational poverty" through education, counseling, and career training.
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