Click. Michael’s gun had jammed. And it kept jamming.
“I sat at the gas station in Newport Beach with a gun to my head, and I pulled the trigger not once, but three times,” says Michael. “Nothing.”
Today, Michael believes God was protecting him in that parking lot. But at the time, he was too consumed by pain and disappointment to see it.
Michael had carried deep wounds since childhood. Abuse and drinking surrounded him at home. He was regularly kicked out, skipped school to avoid explaining his bruises, and by age 13, he had hitchhiked across the country trying to escape.
At 16, Michael enrolled in military school, completed his GED, and later served in the Air Force. But the pain he carried followed him into adulthood.
While working in cross-country sales, alcohol became part of his everyday life. Then the woman he thought he would marry left, and Michael later learned she was pregnant with their daughter. He also lost his best friend in a drunk driving accident.
Then his father died, and depression took hold. Michael didn’t have the strength to carry such tremendous emotional burdens on his own. That’s why he attempted to end his life in that gas station parking lot, but thankfully it failed.
What Michael saw as another failure became the beginning of a different story — made possible by your support.
He came to Orange County Rescue Mission (OCRM) and entered our program at Tustin Veterans Outpost. At first, Michael did everything “by the book.”
“But I didn’t work on myself,” he says. He didn’t allow the life-changing power of God’s love to touch and heal the wounds from his past. Michael eventually left the program and began drinking again.
But once again, his story wasn’t over. Encouraged by a close friend from Tustin Veterans Outpost, Michael returned to OCRM — and this time, he was ready to dig deeper.
Through trauma therapy, substance abuse recovery care, higher education, and a community committed to walking alongside him, Michael is now building the life he once thought was out of reach.
“Without OCRM, I would’ve drank myself to death,” says Michael. “Here, you can press the pause button on your life and reboot.”
Today, Michael is employed full-time and studying to earn his associate’s degree in graphic design. He’s also looking ahead to finding his own apartment and having his daughter come live with him.
“For her to have the values I didn’t have growing up is my goal for her,” he says. “I want her to see that God comes first.”
This is what your compassion makes possible. You give people like Michael the time, safe shelter, resources, and support to address wounds that may have been decades in the making — and the opportunity to build something different for themselves and their families.
