James

“‘How did this hole get in the wall?’ My last roommate asked me that in a raging fury, knowing that I hadn’t been going to work and was behind on rent as it was. I neglected to mention that earlier that day, already in a drunken stupor, I stumbled and basically did a head first baseball slide down the stairs and straight into the wall. After weeks of me hardly leaving my room, except to go buy the necessary cocktail of substances I needed in order just to curb my withdrawals, that was the final straw. I was kicked out and had nowhere to go. Out of the kindness of his heart my brother made the 4 hour trek to Charlotte and got a hotel room for the two of us. Given my 3 recent hospitalizations he recognized that I was probably going to die if left alone with nowhere to sleep but my car. Realistically, he was right. However, I now faced a huge problem… I had to find a place to live. I called my sponsor that day and told him that I had been lying to him and naturally he’d already known. He was the farthest thing from gentle when we spoke and that was exactly what I needed, a wake up call. I needed to get sober and this time truly put in the work to stay that way. My stress level was through the roof, I desperately wanted to stay in Charlotte, but my brother was only able to stay for 3 days. It was either find a place in that span, or move back home to Charleston with my parents, leaving my job and all of my friends here behind indefinitely. I had already been to another sober living here in Charlotte twice before so I figured I’d just call and go back for a third tour of duty. However, God had other plans. The place was full and I was 13th on the waiting list, looking at probably 2-3 months before I’d have a chance to get in. I accepted my fate of having to move back and was pacing outside my job trying to think of how to tell them I had to leave indefinitely on short notice. Then I got a text. The manager of the other sober living told me his friend Josh had just opened a new sober house, it was called Anchor of Hope and they had a bed available. Within a few hours my brother and I were in the car on our way to look at it. As soon as I stepped in the driveway I knew there was something greater at work. I had thought Josh might look familiar, but not only did I recognize him from the meeting where he told his story for the first time, I literally remembered specifics of it because of how much it had reached me even though our paths were so different. My initial plan was to stay for a little while and then transfer to my former facility when I could. That notion lasted about a week. I’ve stayed in a number of sober living houses and not a single one remotely compares to Anchor. Things are just different here. The bonding, the brotherhood, the laughing, the support, the accountability all make this a unique place where not only did I want to get sober, but I wanted to do it here. A huge amount of that is due to Josh, there’s not a more genuinely caring person than him and that resonates throughout the house and everyone here. Anchor of Hope is a special place. A different place. I may not be alive if God had not put it and Josh in my path and that is something I will forever be grateful for.”

Sober since June 22, 2019