Recovery in a Pandemic
Last March will always be remembered as the start of a frightening and exhausting pandemic. For Brody Harris, March 2020 also marked the beginning a different journey, one that took him from a life consumed by addiction to one of freedom and hope. While the path forward wasn’t easy, Brody is here today to testify that it was worth every step.
Brody’s story started in high school, where peer pressure and the desire to fit in led to abusing pain killers, alcohol, and party drugs. After twenty years of addiction, Brody was unable to hold a job or stay in a relationship. He had lied to and stolen from his family so many times that the shame and self-hatred was becoming unbearable.
“I didn’t believe in myself,” Brody recalled. “I didn’t love myself, but my family never gave up on me.” That love spurred him to take the first step toward recovery. He turned to The Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center for help and spent the next five months working through an intensive program designed to equip Brody with the physical, emotional, and psychological skills he would need to leave his old ways behind.
A brief relapse in the fall only strengthened Brody’s determination to succeed. After fifty days away from the Harbor Light Center, he was humbled and grateful when he was welcomed back with open arms. “I don’t feel judged here,” Brody explained. “There’s always someone I can talk to. I know that I can reach out and there’s always someone to listen.”
Today Brody is using his newfound sobriety to help others battling addiction. He credits the caring staff and holistic program at the Harbor Light Center for equipping him for this task, even while a pandemic raged outside.
“My favorite part of the program is making sure we’re set up mentally and spiritually for the next opportunity to help somebody,” Brody said. “What that might look like is tolerance, being patient, because there might be a time when someone needs to come to you. It’s just humbling yourself and realizing God can use us in any way he sees fit. It’s just taking me out of myself and I just love that.”
Brody’s battle over the past year is just one of many that took place in the challenging conditions of a pandemic. Thanks to the support of donors like you, the Harbor Light Center was able to continue its important work and give people like Brody a chance to find hope in a new and better life.