For months, Leroy used Open Door Mission as a place to recover from the drug binges that threatened his life. "When I was on drugs, I wouldn't eat for three or four days," he recalls. "I'd neglect my blood sugar and my insulin, and my feet would swell up. I'd come to the Mission to nurse myself back to health."

At the Mission, Leroy filled up on hot soups and other nutritious foods for a few days. In return for his meals and bed, he volunteered in the kitchen, but he admits, "I didn't have any direction. I was just here for a place to stay, then I'd go back out and use."

Then in June, Leroy took a critical look at his life. "I am 48 years old, a diabetic and tired of doing drugs. I'd destroyed two marriages and been in prison four times." He also realized he'd neglected his children and, though he loved them dearly, he was neglecting his grandchildren, too.

Leroy had watched another addicted friend progress through Open Door Mission's New Life Recovery programs , "I'd told him about it myself several months earlier," Leroy recalls. "When I came in and saw he was still here, I went into the bathroom and tears came out of my eyes. I thought if he can do it, so can I. So I joined the programs and brought God into my life."

Though Leroy knew nothing about the Bible, he took enthusiastically to Bible studies, counseling, church and other means for Christian growth. In August, he was baptized, surrounded by his Mission family!

"I used to be so down on God. I thought I was made to use drugs until I die, but the programs opened my eyes about a lot of things," he says. So determined is Leroy to successfully complete the year-long programs , that when a "friend" recently asked him to stash his drugs, Leroy declined, saying, "You know I'm trying to turn my life around. If you are my friend, you won't do that."

Leroy is looking with hope toward a future that includes reconciliation with his children and plenty of "grandpa" time with his grandchildren, "Today I feel good about myself," he says. "When I first came here, I wasn't sure the Mission would welcome me. I didn't know how they'd accept me, but they welcomed me with open arms."

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