Ernie’s descent into addiction was quick.

His appetite grew for any substance that promised an escape from reality. By his early teens, he was ensnared in the grip of alcohol and petty crime — a trajectory that culminated in his first arrest at just 14 years old. By 16, he was addicted to heroin, “Heroin became the most important thing to me. And I sought it at every opportunity. I did everything that I had to get the next fix. And that was my focus. The center of my life was heroin. And that lasted for the next 37 years of my life.”

Even as he alienated every person closest to him, his mom wouldn’t give up, “She knew in her heart that I was eventually gonna come around, but it took close to 40 years for that to happen.”

It wasn’t until the age of 52, after what felt like a lifetime of turmoil, that Ernie’s moment of reckoning finally arrived. Faced with his rock bottom, he reached out to his cousin, who had found redemption through Teen Challenge — a last-ditch effort to break free from the shackles of addiction that had bound him for so long. When his cousin gave him the induction center’s number, he called immediately and couldn’t help but agree to go the very next day.

Ernie remembers his first day at Teen Challenge as if it happened yesterday: “Right when I walked through those doors, I literally felt the Holy Spirit come upon me from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. And then I felt a load lifted off of my shoulders that I’d been carrying my entire life. It’s almost as if God reached down himself and lifted that off my shoulders. And I walked in there and I just felt that peace and I knew I was in the right place.”

But there was a long road ahead, and Ernie knew it. The people in his life needed time to heal from the pain he had caused them. His kids, especially, who had grown up without their dad. “I remember I called and I spoke to my oldest son, and he seemed a little excited to hear from me and a little excited to know that I was in some form of recovery. And then I started hearing from my other kids.” Slowly but surely, they began to come around more often.

After completing his program at Riverside and his apprenticeship in Reedley, Ernie went to Teen Challenge Ministry Institute. It was something he never thought he’d get to do. When someone who worked there commented that he looked like a future staff member, he laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. But as Ernie puts it, God’s plan will always prevail, “I got hired with Orange County Teen Challenge in 2017, and I’ve been there ever since.”

Today, nine years into his journey of recovery, Ernie helps guide others on their paths to redemption, and offers hope to those who, like him, once felt lost and alone in the darkness. He’s also been restored to his family, “The greatest part of it is my kids. When I finally did come to Teen Challenge, my kids were already grown adults. So all those years prior to that, they didn’t have a dad. But now it’s almost as if I never left.”

But that’s not all: “The greatest blessing of having been restored to my family are my grandchildren. I have five grandchildren, and they didn’t have to see me at my worst. They got to see a different grandpa, the one who loves the Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are thousands of men and women who still feel like all they’ll ever amount to is a drug addict. That there’s no hope for them, that there’s no way out. You can help us provide a way out through your generous giving! You can make a recurring or one-time gift today, and it will make a life-transforming difference in someone’s life.