As a child, I was adopted into an abusive family. Mental, physical, and emotional abuse that was way too much for a child to handle alone. On many occasions, I witnessed my sister being abused in every way, and being a tiny guy myself, there wasn’t much I could do to stop what was happening. Around the age of 15, I finally decided to try to protect my sister. As he sexually abused my sister, I grabbed a knife and stabbed him twice. He retaliated by beating me up badly and sexually assaulted both of us repeatedly. After this, my sister and I both bottled up this trauma and went on with our day to day life.
In my family, no one held a job. Everyone hustled in one way or another. So, it came naturally to me to become a hustler, too. In no time, I began selling all kinds of drugs. After graduating from high school, my life became the streets. After living this life for a while, I found myself in a situation where I got shot twice and almost died that day. Following this I was hospitalized for a month or so– never once did anyone who raised me come to make sure that I was okay.
My life took a dark turn when I started using drugs. I was running from city to city where robbing drug dealers became my lifestyle for a few years. After a few years, I got incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison. After 3 years, I was released back to the streets and back to the streets I went. In no time I was a full blown crack addict who was homeless and addicted living on the streets of Philly.
Eventually, I got away from Philly but I was still using drugs on and off–losing myself until I couldn’t take any more. This is when I asked Jesus for the first time for some help. Before I knew it, I was on my way to Family Care Ministries where I found Jesus! I’m not completely healed, nor am I all the way complete, but I am an unfinished masterpiece being put back together one piece at a time. I know that God’s got my back as long as I keep putting the work in!