Jimmy’s Story

I was born and raised in rural Georgia. I was the youngest of six siblings. It was a turbulent childhood—there were many alcoholics in my family. I come from a long line of addicts. When I was 12, one of my cousins got killed by a drunk driver, and then two years later, the same thing happened to one of my brothers. I never really dealt with the trauma from either of those deaths, and I had a lot of anger. 

I ended up using drugs as a teenager in the 1980s. I hated alcohol because of what it had done my family, the way it killed my brother. I kept using drugs and going in and out of unhealthy relationships. I got married, divorced, and lost my kids because of the drug use. I ended up going to jail, going to a couple of rehabs, but I kept holding a grudge against the man that killed my brother. 

In 2019, I stopped the drugs. That same year, my other brother dies on me. I went to clean his house out, and he had alcohol there, and I started drinking it. I started drinking real heavy. Alcohol was my drug of choice from 2019 to 2022. I was stuck in a vicious cycle of addiction.

I came to the end of my rope when I realized that I had no one left to turn to, to help me. I decided I wanted a change. On March 7, 2022, I came to The Potter’s House. Since then, I’ve been through the 12 steps. Meeting with the counselors and advocates has really shown me what my problems are. I just don’t suffer from one addiction, I suffer from multiple addictions. I learned that I had to forgive the man that killed my brother. I did that, and God started working on me.

You can’t change one thing about your life, you’ve got to change your whole outlook. I don’t go on social media anymore. I don’t listen to the same songs I listened to. I don’t hang around the people I hung around with. God has really changed my entire outlook on life. I’ve learned to have healthy boundaries with my family. Many of them are still in their addictions, but I don’t judge them. Last Thanksgiving, I went home and showed them how God changed me. I prayed aloud and said, “God, thank you for taking the chain of addiction off my family, and thank you for the ones that you ain’t done yet. I know you’re going to do it.” The Potter’s House has given me so many tools to stay sober and to reconnect with my family in a safe way.

I am now serving as a Servant Leader here at The Potter’s House, which is like a mentor for the new guys coming in. I want to become a Certified Peer Specialist and help other men suffering from addiction. Atlanta Mission has saved my life, and I’m a different person than I was. God’s all in this place. God set me down here, and opened my eyes here, and showed me. You can feel his presence here. I know I have a bright future ahead.