Brandon’s Story

I was basically an only child growing up. It was really just me and my mom. My dad wasn’t around, and I haven’t seen him since I was like 10—he was addicted to crack and that’s why my mom left him.

I didn’t really connect with people a lot growing up. I was not even necessarily a loner, but I just didn’t understand people. I was a real sensitive kid. 

I was really like that until I got to high school, and then I had a couple of friends that I hung out with, and then once I got involved with music, things got a little bit better and I started to connect with people. 

I got involved with a high school band and did this thing called Drum Corps where I was touring around the country playing every summer, and I did that up until I went to college for music education. 

I went to Northwestern University, which was in this small town in Louisiana. I really hadn’t drank alcohol before, but once I got to college, I started drinking. 

That’s when everything kind of got crazy. 

Kicked out of school

I had a full-ride scholarship and my room and board were paid for, my books were paid for, but I took out loans so I had spending money and stuff. I managed to keep my scholarship up for about two or three years, but then I really started drinking to socialize. 

I didn’t know how to socialize with people before, but once I started drinking, everyone in the room loved me. It almost felt like my calling. It felt like alcohol was what I was missing this whole time. 

Then I just completely bombed my classes. I started smoking weed a bit and I started doing coke or psychedelics. 

I think I got kicked out of school in my third or fourth year, and for about a year after that, I didn’t hang out with anybody, and I just got to this point where I realized I was just kind of a sad existence. 

I remember calling my grandma asking for help. She rented a U-Haul and came and picked me up.  And that’s when I finally moved to Georgia. 

‘The idea of sobriety was just shocking to me’

After a few months in Georgia, I got a job at a restaurant and that’s where I met these people who used meth. I really just dove in, and that has really been my biggest problem for the past seven or eight years. 

The idea of sobriety was just shocking to me. I got full-on into drugs, and I just stayed away from my family because I didn’t want them to see anything about that life. 

I eventually lost my job, and I moved in with a friend of mine who I played music with, and that house was just a trap house.

We got raided by the police one day, and basically, the cops told me I was an idiot. They were like, “Why are you hanging out with all the convicts? These felons? What are you doing here?” And that kind of hit home. I was expecting to go away to jail, and they didn’t arrest me, they were just like, “Dude. You got to do something.”

I finally got to a point where I just hit a wall. Something had to change. 

‘I’ve got to get to The Potter’s House’

I had to get help. I realized I had to get to The Potter’s House. I put in my application and seven days later I got a call.

Once I got accepted here, I just had this crazy feeling of peace.

I got to The Potter’s House on Dec. 1, 2020. ​​I got to this point where I was just like—I didn’t want to do the bare minimum anymore. So, I got involved and became a Servant Leader, and I started working with the guys here.  

I’ve gotten really close with all of the people around me, and this was like the first time I’ve really gotten to enjoy people without drugs or alcohol being present. 

Being at The Potter’s House has most definitely been a positive experience for me. I’ve taken different classes and I got my forklift certification. I’ve been looking into all these different fields I can work in. 

So, I did the forklift certification, and we did the first aid/CPR class, and right now I’m also going to start training to be a Medical Coordinator. 

Anybody I talk to that’s got problems, I tell them about this place. I was 29 years old, didn’t know how to get a job, couldn’t fend for myself, and basically, this is like a dream.

This place is really just a lifesaver. It takes a lot for somebody to take in a grown man, teach him how to live a life, and then slowly let him back out into the world. You don’t come around places like that every day.