For years, I had a problem with drinking, which led me to being homeless. Things got so bad that I was living in my truck. That wasn’t the way I wanted to live. And then, my truck got towed and I knew I would end up on the streets. One of my friend’s mothers told me about the Rescue Mission years ago, but I never thought about it until I was faced with really being homeless.

I went to my parents’ house and told them I was homeless, and that I was looking to get into the Rescue Mission. I did some research and found out about the Double R Ranch. I thought it was kind of cool. I was more concerned with becoming a cowboy rather than dealing with the issues that I had. I thought, “They’re going to feed me and I can just work with horses.” It turned out to be a lot more than that.

I knew that the whole program was faith-based, and I had grown up going to church on and off. I recall telling my dad that, “I don’t think I’m going to become a Christian or anything like that.” And that completely changed within the first of month of being there. I came to the realization that I had problems that I couldn’t’ deal with on my own. I had no answers and the only answer was to just give it up to Christ. The staff at the Ranch gave so much to help me change my life, and I appreciate it.

I thought it was great working with the animals. I learned a lot about horses, goats and alpacas. I’d never seen an alpaca in my life! Just learning about the animals and learning to care for them was pretty cool. The first thing I wanted to do when I got there was jump on a horse and start riding. But I realized there was a lot more involved.

After my year at the Double R Ranch, I moved to the Village of Hope and I’m going through the job workshop. I’m hoping to get a job in a warehouse while I pursue an AS degree in machine technology to be in CNC programming and operations.