From hurting to helping, Ryan comes ‘full circle’

This is the sixth story in a series chronicling this year’s theme of “Rescue.” This month, we look into Ryan’s story, recounting his journey to a new life.

In 2024, Ryan was diagnosed with stage three melanoma and is grateful for the support he found at the Mission. After immunotherapy and radiation treatments, he is now declared cancer-free.

Thinking back on all he has gone through and all that he has accomplished in the last few years still amazes Ryan. “I got sober, saved, and beat stage three cancer all while I was here,” he said, “and I don’t think it would have been possible anywhere else.”

Ryan’s story shows the power of God to rescue us even from the bleakest of situations and years of wandering in the dark.

Growing up in Salinas, Ryan described his childhood with his mom, stepdad, and two siblings as normal by most accounts. “We were cared for and had what we needed to thrive and grow,” he recalled, “but there was something dark that was always hanging over me.” That something was the fact that his biological father was in prison. “I’m not sure why this had such a hold over me, but as I got older, I began to rebel against things,” he said.

At first, this was getting into fights at school and struggling with classwork, but by 12, Ryan was smoking pot. “Things weren’t too bad at that point but looking back at that time of my life I can see that I was already headed down a dark path,” said Ryan. He managed to graduate high school and was even on the basketball team at a local junior college. “But I was kicked off for not going to class. Apparently that was the part of college that they are serious about,” he said with a grin.

Ryan’s life got progressively worse throughout most of his 20s as he found new addictions and struggled just to get by. “I was barely hanging on through those years. Things weren’t as bad as they would get, but they were definitely heading that way,” he said. “I managed to get two DUIs, but I also had my son when I was 25. So, there were some bright spots during that time.”

Unfortunately for Ryan, those bright spots were soon overshadowed by a deepening use of heroin and meth. He spent the next decade and a half homeless and unable to stay sober. “There were moments when I felt close to being able to get clean, but that never lasted long,” he said.

“Then when I was 40 something happened that started out bad but that eventually got me the help I needed.”

While visiting a friend, Ryan went into a drug-induced psychosis and was arrested for his own safety. He was turned over to authorities and sent to a medical center for a 72-hour