Richard remembers the Denver of his childhood as much more open and wild than today’s busy metropolis. He loved exploring nature’s secret twists and turns. He enjoyed fly-fishing in the creek with peacock feathers, playing tree tag with the neighbor kids, and riding through the hills on his paper route with his sister perched on the handlebars. Best of all, he loved his family’s one-room cabin near Estes Park. Richard still smiles when he talks of his family’s vacations in the wilderness.

As Richard grew, he watched the city he knew change. Big stadiums were being built, steel frameworks rising towards the sky. Then his family had to tear down their cabin because they couldn’t afford it anymore. Richard dropped out of high school to work full time at a print shop. From that time on, he spent more hours indoors. His life became more contained, more stressful. Working at the print shop was dangerous work. He saw men lose fingers and hands. Richard began drinking in an attempt to cope with the stress.

On the upside, Richard met his wife at his job. Together, they had three daughters and shared many happy times together before she passed away.

His drinking habits did not seem to affect his work life until he lost his job two years ago. Richard believes that up until this point, the responsibility of raising his children had grounded him: “I’d always had someone to take care of before,” he says. So when he lost his job and found himself all alone, he went on a drinking binge and got a DUI. His savings became depleted. Before long, he found himself on the streets. Too proud to ask for help, he slept outside. “I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.” He went through a short-term rehabilitation program, but soon relapsed. “Something had to give. I couldn’t go on as before. God . . . stepped in and said, ‘No more!’” Richard says.

As a resident of the New Life Program at The Crossing, Richard has begun to gain a sense of God’s plan for his life. Richard says that here, “You’ve got the choice if you want to change or not.” He has been able to save money while in the program and has built strong relationships with staff, chaplains and peers. Currently, as part of his work therapy, he keeps The Crossing grounds neat and beautiful. He takes special pride in this work. He’s also very proud of completing his GED coursework. “I was told that to graduate here you had to get your GED. I thought since I had never had one, never needed one, this would be a good opportunity. It took me about 5 months, but I did it!”

He praises Lisa, a Mission staff member, for teaching him and helping him prepare for part of the test. “I had struggled in language. I had never been good at spelling. But I passed my language test the first time!” He also is thankful to another tutor for helping him with math: “Jason was really helpful, too. He helped me learn the math.”

“My average scores were A’s in all subjects. I said to my mom, ‘Now you can say all four of your kids have graduated high school!’” He pauses. “I had never been in a program like this, where they wanted to help you get a better job.”

He beams. “I can go to college now!”