Support Michael's Recovery Journey and Reunite Family

Hi, my name is Michael and I am a grateful recovering addict. As of today, I am 57 days clean with the rest of my life to go. I'm 49 now and have been struggling with addiction, on and off, most of my adult life. I would always tell myself stuff like "I'm not an addict" and "I can quit whenever I want," and for the most part, I did quit in the past when things started to become unmanageable. Then came Covid, and I was introduced fentanyl. Not only did life become unmanageable, it became dangerously out of control. Like most people during Covid, I was told I couldn't work but was making double my former salary in the form of jacked-up unemployment benefits and stimulus checks what seemed like every other month. Needless to say, after 6 years of being clean, fentanyl and heroin became my go-to drug of choice. My kids ended up going to stay at my mom's house so they didn't have to watch the man that was a great father to them deteriorate to the worthless shell of my former self I would become. I would eventually lose everything, but worst of all, I lost myself. The next few years I would make a few attempts at detox but would eventually fall right back into old habits. I died twice during that stretch. The first time I wasn't breathing for 15 minutes and it took 7 narcans to eventually bring me back. You would think that would be a wake up call but it wasn't. I selfishly wished that I didn't wake up that night. My life had no structure at all, I was homeless, jobless, everything I owned was stolen or traded and I was at absolute rock bottom. Then came what would become my clean date, 06-16-2025. At 5:16 in the morning, I became a father again. We had a beautiful 4lb 6oz baby boy named Colton. He was so tiny, the size of a football, and I instantly fell in love with him. As of this point, I already had three girls that I either failed or was failing miserably, but God gave me one more chance to do the right thing. He gave my daughters a brother, my mother a grandson, and me my boy. Everything changed that day. My thinking went from nothing to lose, to everything to gain. I spent the next 3 days in the hospital with him. We made arrangements for him to go home with my mother, while I voluntarily checked myself into the Pocono Mountain Recovery Center to begin the next chapter of my life. I stayed for the 28-day rehab program and am currently in their PHP program determined not to fail my kids, my mom, my friends, but most of all myself. This is where the assistance part comes in. I came here with nothing but a garbage bag that had 2 raggedy outfits in it, 2 pairs of socks, and one pair of underwear (gross) and it doesn't help that I came in weighing 145 and now I'm at 175 with not a dollar to buy clothes that actually fit and don't make me look like I'm still homeless. I'm allowed to get a part-time job in the program I'm in, but I won't get hired without ID. I can't get ID without my SSN card or birth certificate, I can't get my birth certificate without ID, and I definitely can't get any of this stuff without money. Although I'm doing amazing in the physical, mental, and spiritual sense, I am struggling financially. I hate that I have to try and be a charity case, but I have definitely exhausted all other options. Every dollar I receive will go to me setting up a better tomorrow for me and my family. By the time I finish this step of my program, between your donations and getting the documents I need to get back to working, I will be able to make ends meet and eventually go home and continue this new lease on life and be the best father and all-around person I can be! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Please repost and help me reach the goal! I'm forever grateful!!!

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference