Chris’ Story

My experience being a resident of The Safe Place brought me to where I am today. In October of 2015, I came to Safe Place broken, beaten, and clearly out of ideas of my own. Using alcohol and other issues I live with as a crutch for getting me through life. I had worn out my welcome with many people.

Finally, I’d had enough and accepted help from the man who would become my first sponsor in AA. He offered to give me a place to stay for a few days until I could find a place to live. By the following Tuesday, he had helped me get in contact with the gentlemen who ran Safe Place at the time. I spent the next 13 months there, relearning how to be a productive member of society. In the years since that experience, I’ve had two other stays at Safe Place.

The second time was short lived because I had given up. I wanted nothing to do with recovery. I just wanted a place to stay after being evicted from an apartment. I’d stopped attending meetings, stopped contacting/meeting with a sponsor. Life once again fell apart, and I was desperate for a safety net. Safe Place took me in again, and within three months, I’d quit a job, stopped working my 12 step program. I was out again. This time, on not-so-good terms.

I spent the next two months living with a friend above a bar. By the middle of the second month, I had become so lost, mentally and spiritually, and dangerously close to relapse, or suicide. I contacted Kyle again, desperate for help. He agreed to help and let me back in Safe Place.

For the next year and a half, I had gotten steady employment (I’m still with that employer today), I’ve worked a 12 step program, I help others as much as I can, I recently took a service position in my home group. I’ve rebuilt my relationships with friends and family who I’d alienated with my drinking. And as I said at the beginning of this, today, I celebrate five continuous years of not needing to rely on alcohol to solve my problems.

Chris, Former Safe Place Foundation Resident