Sean is grateful for the grace he’s been shown while in program.

Sean was diagnosed with ADD at a young age and prescribed medication to help him focus. Looking back, he sees how early patterns formed. “Taking Ritalin was a catalyst for me in creating the mindset that I needed to take something to focus.”

High school was difficult. Although he had friends, he often felt like he didn’t belong. He believed he had to earn their friendship by giving them something or acting more outgoing than he really was.

By his senior year, Sean began drinking and sneaking alcohol from his parents’ collection to manage anxiety. After graduation, without structure or direction, his substance use escalated. “With ADD, I tend to veer off if I don’t have something to look forward to,” he said. “As soon as I graduated high school, I had no expectations or anything that held me accountable. I never really had a future. I couldn’t focus on what I wanted to do in life.”

Sean later met a woman with a child, and together they built a family, eventually welcoming a son of their own. Wanting to provide for them and desperate to focus, he turned to meth. His life unraveled further after a DUI, and when his relationship ended, he lost the accountability he once had. “I didn’t have anyone telling me I had to go to work or what to do. So I just started doing whatever I wanted.”

As his addiction intensified, Sean spent time in jail. His lowest point came when he was “up for days straight, just using.” His parents no longer wanted him around, and he ended up on the streets. “I felt alone and empty, like there was nowhere to turn. I knew I needed help.”

That help came through the Mission. The program has challenged him and required humility. At one point, he faced being removed from the program. “But I thought about what that would mean, and I was shown grace by the staff.”

Now, Sean says he’s putting God into everything. “I know that if I’m not going to change in here, I’m definitely not going to change out there.” As he prepares for graduation, he’s focused on building a stable future with steady employment and housing. Most of all, he wants to make his son Andrew proud. “He’s not the sole reason I get up every morning-that’s because of God too. But he is the reason I am in this program. I don’t want him to go through what I had to. I want him to have a good future, filled with people that love him.”