“I’m finally healing. I’m learning how to love myself.”
Addison grew up in a family-oriented home. He enjoyed fun activities like roller skating and going to amusement parks… but there was also a dark side. Addison saw his mom get abused.
As Addison got older, he started experimenting with substances. It became a way to cope with his childhood trauma, and it eventually led to homelessness. “I just had to know what that was like, and once I got a taste of it, I was hooked,” he says. “I was so focused on changing how I felt, I chose using substances and being homeless over living and working.”
Then when his mom took her own life, Addison plunged deeper into destruction. He felt alone and stayed in a toxic relationship. It caused him to harm himself and he wound up in the hospital.
After the relationship ended, he had nowhere else to go. He went to what he thought was an abandoned church and got arrested for trespassing. Addison was given the choice to stay in jail or come to the Rescue Mission.
“If I knew the Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia existed, I would have chosen it over anything else,” he says. “Every decision I make today is how I change my life and my future.”
He joined our life-recovery program and learned that he is not a product of his environment, but his decisions. “I was a very impulsive person. Now, I take pride in thinking before I act,” he says. “I’m learning about the cycle of thinking that affects my behavior.”
Now, Addison wants to use the pain from his past to help others. “I know how to help them. I love helping,” he shares. “I want to become a rehab coach, counselor, psychologist, or addiction specialist.”
Your gifts are bearing fruit in the lives of people like Addison. His heart is full of hope this fall… thanks to your kindness! “I was headed for destruction. Since coming to the Rescue Mission, I’m finally healing. I’m learning how to love myself.”
Click here to download the September 2025 issue of The Mission Bell.