Michael T - Tough Love and a Fresh Start

Gail knew the voice instantly. She had received this same phone call before, and knew what was coming before he asked. Her brother Michael was in trouble, with no money and nowhere to go, hungry and exhausted. His body ached for a fix and drugs were his highest priority. Gail knew that when Michael called her Chicago-area home collect from Kansas City it meant he had burned his latest set of bridges and was desperate.

“Gail, can you loan me a few bucks to get by? I swear I’m good for it.” It hurt her heart to hear her brother like this, at the edge of panic. She wanted to help him, to bail him out of his jam, even though she understood it was enabling his addiction. After all, she felt almost like a mom to him since their mother had passed away, and as a nurse her first inclination was always to give comfort and mercy. Still, she stiffened her resolve. “No, Michael, not this time.” Gail felt his desperation, but she insisted, “You must get yourself some help.”

Michael hung up the pay phone. Standing alone in the dark cold of a Kansas City truck stop, completely out of options, he headed toward the city, not really going anywhere.

There was a time when Michael knew exactly where he was going. A stand out football star in high school, he had earned a full scholarship to play at the college level. The future looked bright; he was living his dream. But an injury in his first semester ended Michael’s football career and he lost his scholarship… and his dream. 

Recreational drug use became a life-altering addiction as Michael meandered through a stint in the military, several jobs and two failed marriages. Smart and savvy, he always managed to land on his feet. His good work skills would get him another job when he lost one because of drug-related behavior. He used the VA as a place to crash until he could get back on his own. His sister, Gail, and other family members would assist him with a few dollars or care packages. Until that night at the truck stop when Gail said no.

Michael lay awake in the dormitory of a Kansas City shelter. He stared at the ceiling, listening to the man next to him muttering incoherently. Michael was afraid for his safety, afraid of the future. Out on the street the next day someone suggested to Michael that he come to the Kansas City Rescue Mission. “Man, that’s the Cadillac of missions!” the man declared. Michael found KCRM and learned about our Christian Development Program (CDP) for recovery.

At the Kansas City Rescue Mission nobody cared that Michael had been a star football player.  Nobody cared how many times he had tried and failed to beat drugs. We just cared about Michael. In the mirror, he saw a man beaten down and hopeless, but we saw him as a man of great value. The following months brought Michael a sense of community, accountability and practical counsel. He invested himself in God’s Word and devoted himself to the training that was offered. He remembers Joe Colaizzi, Executive Director of KCRM, holding up a Bible in class and saying, “Try this (Bible) as much as you once tried drugs and other things.”

Clean and sober, Michael will testify that Joe’s advice works. While attending Michael’s graduation from the Christian Development Program recently, sister Gail said that one of the major differences she sees in him is how he expresses his goals. “He’s always talked about needing to make enough money to have a nice place or a nice car. Now his goals are more about issues of character.” 

Michael is working to fully meet his child support obligations, and looks forward to a renewed relationship with his three sons. Beyond that, he is determined to simply “keep the main thing the main thing,” as Joe Colaizzi often teaches, and to enjoy the new start in life God has given him.