Success Stories

After addiction ruined Keith’s career, broke up his marriage and caused him financial and legal problems, he finally sought treatment. While there, he was also diagnosed with OCD, depression and schizophrenia. He attempted suicide twice, ended up homeless, and yet he continued to drink. He sadly admits that “he wasn’t ready, wasn’t done drinking, didn’t follow the treatment and desperately struggled to make it work in his life.”

After five years, several stays in Detox and four different treatment programs, his downward spiral continued and he was in a terrible car accident that ended the lives of two other people. Both of his feet were nearly severed and he spent the next seven months in the hospital. He was now burdened with overwhelming guilt and didn’t believe he deserved another chance. When he was offered a special grant for the homeless population to receive treatment, he entered the David Lawrence Center’s intense substance use outpatient treatment program with little hope.

Keith shares, “This time I had to do something different. The outpatient program challenged me to do the work on my own and figure out how to fill my time while not in the group.” He became very active in a church, began attending 12-step meetings and started to invest his free time in ways that could give back. He volunteered for the homeless shelter that he called home on more than one occasion, started to tell his story at the DUI Victim Impact panel and became very active in the David Lawrence Centers Alumni Association.

Keith has been sober for nearly four years and believes “David Lawrence Centers saved his life”. He adds, “I am so grateful that everyone was willing to give me another chance. My therapist took the time to listen and gave me hope when I was hopeless. Now that the alcohol is out of my system, my head is clear and I no longer need medications.”