Stories of Hope

Every story of recovery is a story of grace, and of the courage it takes to begin again. The stories below are shared by Project Heart members in their own words, and we’re honored to make space for them here.

Each one reflects a different journey, but the heart of them is the same: when someone chooses to keep showing up, accepts support, and takes the next right step, healing becomes possible. These stories speak to faith, friendship, accountability, and the kind of community that helps people rebuild what addiction tried to take.

If you’re reading this and feeling unsure, exhausted, or disconnected, we hope these voices remind you of something simple and true: you are not alone. Hope is real, and a new path forward can start today, one day at a time.

Just Keep Coming Back – “I love my life today.”

In October of 2023, I was lost. I was strung out on fentanyl, homeless, and I couldn’t see my two boys, who were one and seven years old. I didn’t want to live anymore. Somehow, in November of 2023, I got into a detox and rehab, and I started going to Project Heart.

Every Thursday, Marty would come and get us, and every Sunday, we’d go to the big meeting at church. When I left that rehab, I just kept coming back to Project Heart, and before I knew it, I had a sponsor/mentor, and we went to all kinds of events. We went to meetings, we worked steps, we went camping and on retreats.

He just listened, and gave me advice, and made me feel like I had a friend. I know myself, and I needed a friend, someone new, so I didn’t go back to my old friends. That friend prayed with me. I prayed for a place to live, and I got one. I prayed for a job, and I got an awesome one. I prayed for my kids, and that friend went to court with me, and I got custody of my kids.

I can’t forget to mention I have the amazing woman I always prayed for. In this program, I haven’t done a lot. I just show up, and I don’t get loaded, and when someone asks me to do something, I say okay. Life isn’t perfect. It turns out I still owe a lot of money for my financial amends, but I’m paying it off.

I love my life today. I have over 2 years clean and sober, and I love Project Heart. It’s the program that helped me find my path. If I can do it, anyone can, just keep coming back. I’m now a Project Heart Peer Mentor, helping others find their way.

Story in a Nutshell – “I get to give hope to people who are standing where I once stood.”

Life before I got clean was chaotic and destructive. I was living on the streets, stealing cars, burglarizing homes, hurting people I cared about, and hurting myself even more. I stole from friends, used around my children, and burned every bridge I had. I was lost in every sense of the word, and the person I had become didn’t match the man I wanted to be.

My turning point came the day I crossed a line I swore I never would: I picked up a needle. I had used every drug in the book, but that moment shook me awake. I realized I was either going to die or finally change. That fear, and that clarity, pushed me into action. I went to jail, started attending NA H&I meetings, read every book I could get my hands on, and committed myself to doing things differently.

Project Heart became the safe place where I rebuilt my life. Through peer mentorship, group structure, accountability, and real connection, I found belonging again. I went back to school, started working, built routines, and worked the 12 steps. Today, I’m a peer mentor myself, supporting others the way people once supported me. I wake up grateful, surrounded by friends who check in every morning, and I get to give hope to people who are standing where I once stood. That’s why I’m hopeful now because recovery gave me my life back, and I get to help others find theirs.

Connection, Faith, and a Living Amends

My mother came to visit me recently, this after several years of sporadic contact due to my own selfish isolation and personal disregard for others that was the hallmark of my surrender to alcoholism. This unarranged visit exemplifies the values that have changed my life, which I have embraced in large part as a member of the Project Heart alliance.

You see, with an unprecedented time of recovery, I was both available and authentic to receive the blessing of this visit from arguably the most important person for my being. The word “amends” is spoken of in many other communities, and I have made my share of un-actualized atonements throughout my attempts at self-recovery, but this visit with my long suffering mother was an opportunity for a living amends with the evidence of action. I was present, unencumbered by the chaos and delusions of self-will run riot, to be a son guided by faith; not just persevering, but excelling with my every next step.

Positively integral to my life as I am living it now, and indeed my mindset, is my involvement with the Project Heart fellowship. My introduction to the group came at the suggestion of someone who regularly attended. This brother seemed to represent a grasp of the concept of serenity that was sorely missing in my life. Still, it took me some time to actually get there. At the time, I was early in one of my bouts of sobriety, and my first experience in a meeting left me with impressions of connection above all else. This was personally affecting, as connection was another facet of a fulfilling life that I had totally disregarded. Also, at the meeting there was no initiation, only introductions, and a feeling of acceptance. The room is simply a gathering of men connected enough to be vulnerable about their condition, and open to accepting that in others the opportunity to identify and actualize the means and actions to recover is available.

On any given week at a Project Heart gathering, the representation of triumph over disparity is in full force. There is a lack of ego driven testimonials or absolute solutions offered. Instead, and to great benefit, the encouragement and willingness to help others through common interaction promotes everybody’s positive growth. Because of this, the forum at a Project Heart meeting does not have an itinerary of set discussion, only some guidance. This allows participants the freedom to address their concerns in an environment that endorses solution over judgment.

In addition, as a group of men where ego is a character trait, I find that in the weekly meetings the camaraderie remains as an example of the virtues of successful men. Consideration, listening, and positive suggestion come to mind. It must also be noted that another place to see this in action is the various service opportunities. In fact, one of my early exposures to all of what Project Heart can be was helping clean a property up for someone in need. Many members showed up, and the work was achieved with a sense of mission, the mission of bettering oneself through the contribution to/of others.

As a group, Project Heart is unparalleled in my life for the hope and guidance I have utilized to reestablish my life. I am, above all, connected with a fellowship of positive support in Project Heart.

Hope Is Real

I stand before you not as someone who’s done everything right, but as someone who’s walked through darkness and found light on the other side. I grew up a military brat, but also around addiction, raised by addicts and alcoholics, learning early that chaos and instability were normal. When I was a child, my six-year-old stepbrother was kidnapped and murdered, shattering my sense of safety and trust. That broken sense of security followed me into adulthood. Though I told myself I would never use illicit drugs, addiction eventually chained me and pulled me down paths I never thought I’d walk: through jails, heartbreak, shame, and the loss of everything that mattered. I was stuck in a cycle of addiction, incarceration, and recovery, believing I was surviving when I was truly lost.

During what should have been years of healing, life continued to break open. My husband was critically injured, we welcomed our son during the isolation of COVID, and I silently struggled with postpartum bipolar disorder. Fear, exhaustion, and untreated pain led me back to addiction, and eventually back into custody. Facing the possibility of losing my son forever, and grieving the death of my mother while incarcerated, I reached a place of complete brokenness. One night, with nothing left to lose, I got on my knees and prayed, not to make a deal, but to surrender. In that moment, I realized I wasn’t forgotten. God had been there all along, waiting for me to stop fighting and trust Him with my story.

Project Heart didn’t give up on me. You saw something in me I couldn’t yet see in myself, and reminded me that I was still worth believing in, fighting for, and loving. Through faith, community, women’s group, peer mentors, service, therapy, and consistent support, my life began to change, even while incarcerated. Today, I’ve been released and reunited with my son, my marriage is healing, and my life, though not perfect, is full of purpose and gratitude. I’m learning that real security comes from walking in truth, sobriety, faith, and connection. To anyone who feels too broken or too far gone, I want you to know this: you are never beyond the reach of grace. Hope is real, redemption is real, and healing is possible, especially when we don’t walk alone

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Woman’s Creed

We are women of resilience.

We have walked through darkness, but we no longer live there, we choose light, we choose growth, we choose lives of excellence.

We honor our past, not with shame but with strength, for it shaped the warriors we have become. We are not defined by mistakes, but by the courage to rise and the willingness to change.

We lift each other up.

We build sisterhood rooted in truth, love, and accountability. Where there was once isolation, we now create connection. Where there was chaos, we now walk in purpose.

Together, we choose healing over harm, dignity over defeat, and transformation over survival. We are not just surviving.

We are transforming to walk boldly with purpose and strength through all we have overcome.

As women, as sisters, as a team – we hold excellence above relapse.

Men’s Creed

We are men of Heart. We are leaders, protectors, builders, and teachers. In the face of danger, we are warriors of a good and just cause, founded upon an attitude of humility and selflessness.

As men we seek to grow emotionally and spiritually. We stand together, holding excellence above relapse by overcoming life destabilizing issues.

We ascribe to humbly learn each day how to bring excellent principles of life to those around us by learning to base our decisions on an that is moral, ethical and legal.

As men, we are leaders, therefore we have a high calling to stand for what is true, right, and above reproach.

As men we are protectors. As gentle warriors we provide a place of both emotional and physical safety for those entrusted to our care.

As men we comfort the fearful, guide the lost, encourage the faint hearted, show patience to the misguided, and hope to the oppressed.

We are Men of Heart and committed to taking the lead; emotionally, physically, and spiritually.