Client Spotlight: John

Photo: John and his Light House Client Advocate, Karen

I’ve never been as blessed in my life as when I walked through the doors of The Light House.
– John, Former Resident & Community Client

I’ve battled drug and alcohol addiction all my life – even during the forty years I worked as a mechanic in Anne Arundel County. On top of that I’ve suffered multiple health problems: COPD, emphysema, prostate cancer and herniated discs…it finally came to a point my addiction and health problems became unmanageable. I couldn’t keep a job, and I couldn’t keep up with my medical issues.

One day I was kicked out of my apartment and ended up sleeping in an alleyway on Clay Street. After that I slept in the woods or anywhere I could find. I had no shelter – not even a tent. I drank every day to dull the pain, and picked up small odd jobs to get by. To this day I don’t know how I made it through.

Then, I found the Light House.

Without my client advocate, Karen, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. She never let me down, she was always there for me. The first few weeks I was at The Light House I was in bad shape. She set me up with medical appointments, helped me get my birth certificate, whatever I needed to move forward.”

The people who come through The Light House doors get what they need to get back on track. This program is here for you, and all you need to do is listen and you’ll be on a good path. I’m sober today because I want to be. I want to make the friends that I have now proud of me. I want to make Karen proud, and everyone else who works here and supports this place. They all mean the world to me, and the only reason I got through it all was because of the support of the staff and Karen – they are superheroes!