Like all of the women at Saint John’s Program for Real Change, Sandy and Starr share common qualities – courage, resiliency and strength. And, like all of the women who step through the red door at Saint John’s, they have had their share of adversity and despondency including depression, drug and alcohol dependence, abusive relationships,…
Read MoreThe Red Door Stories-Alicia
An innocent, newborn baby…what, exactly, did Mikhayla do to deserve the cruel life she was given? Why did she have to endure a world of such pain few of us can fathom, from the day she was born? The ninth child in a hopelessly broken family, the cold, cruel answer is…nothing. Nothing at all.
Read MoreThe Red Door Stories-Sabrina
At just nineteen young years of age, Sabrina found herself sleeping under a bridge, alone in the cold, and pregnant. Born into a world filled with alcoholism, drug abuse, and violence, she had never known a life without utter chaos. And now, she too was bringing another new life into that same dark place.
Read MoreLaunching a New Life – Saint John’s 2016 Graduation
Written by Rob Stewart This will be tough. Tough to put into words the powerful, life altering, joyous event I and hundreds of others had the pleasure to witness last week, the 2016 Employment Training Graduation of Saint John’s Program for Real Change. I have been emceeing events for 20 years, mostly in the past…
Read MoreGrantee Develops Big Data for Big Change
Originally posted at www.wheatridge.org In March 2016, Amy was at the lowest point of her life. Recently released from Sierra Vista Mental Health center after attempting suicide, she knew she needed something different to break her 15-year cycle of addiction. “I just couldn’t go to another recovery home,” she remembers. “I thought: this is it…
Read MoreWhy is Real Change So Difficult?
written by David Flanagan Many people celebrate the new year by writing down a list of new goals and resolutions for change — I’m going to lose ten pounds. I’m going to be a better parent. I’m going to wake up earlier and go running. And more often than not, even the most well-meaning advocate…
Read MoreDocumenting Real Change with Elisha
I am nervous. I am about to meet Elisha, a 33-year old mother of four and a participant in Saint John’s Program for Real Change. I have been asked to document her life story. Perhaps she is as nervous to share her history as I am to chronicle it. Founded in 1985, the Sacramento-based Saint…
Read MoreThe Gift of Recovery: My Story
Written by Paul Mitchell April 29, 1987. It was a Wednesday, two days after my 17th birthday. I remember both days. On one I was at school early, trying to find someone who would get me high for my birthday, not wanting to use whatever drugs I had hidden away. On the other I was…
Read MoreGood Things Come to Those Who Hustle
We are very excited to have a guest post this week, written by Lyndsey Moya. When she isn’t with her family, taking her adorable 3 year old daughter, Zoey, to ballet practice or making a trip through the Starbucks drive-thru for her famous Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte, Lyndsey serves as the Career Center Manager at…
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