I stayed at C.A.S.S. homeless shelter for about 8 months. I had no job and no place else to go. Throughout the hard times I have been visiting the HomeBase outreach center*. They have helped me with hygiene, food, clothes, and working towards getting my G.E.D. - all at no cost to me!

All it takes to get off the streets is to apply yourself. If you're willing to get off the streets and you're willing to help yourself, you will get off the streets sooner than you think. But don't get me wrong, it's not easy.

When I came to Arizona, I was using drugs. I have had people using some kind of drugs around me all my life. My mom is still using meth, crack, heroin, etc. You name it she has done it. My dad was a heavy drinker and he also smokes some pot. I moved out here to better my life away from drugs. I made up my mind that I was ready to clean up my act. I knew that "I am better than that." But it took me almost overdosing on meth to make me wake up. To see that the reason why I didn't have time to look for a job was because I was too busy selling dope and using dope. To open my eyes and see that anybody that wanted me to get high with them wasn't my real friend. Anybody that says that they're your "friend" will not ask you to sell drugs or to get high with them.

I used crystal meth for seven years. I have been clean from meth for two and a half years now, but it was not easy considering that I was living in the middle of a drug zone where there was crack, meth, weed, heroin, etc. all around. It's not easy getting off drugs while being homeless, but if I would have kept using drugs I would not be where l am now. I would probably be in jail or in prison.

Now that I look back, just in the past year, I see that I have come so far with my life. HomeBase has helped me get my life back on track. I am also working with the medical staff, therapeutic services manager, and a few of the caseworkers. The nice thing about their staff is that they're willing to help anybody that is willing to help themselves.

Within a few months of visiting the center, I had a job and was starting to save my money up for a place to live. Eventually, I moved out of C.A.S.S. and am now renting a one bedroom house.

It makes me proud of myself for how far I have come with my life. If you're willing to get help, you can talk to the substance abuse counselors that are always here for us at HomeBase; and if you think that you're the only one that knows that you're high, you better think again.

I can truly say that I'm really happy with the progress that I have made for myself. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom before you really understand the outside life. If you read my story, my hope is that you will be able to avoid living the life that I lived.

* The Dustin D. Wolfswinkel Center for Youth