ALL IN THE FAMILY | Lorenzo's Story
Lorenzo and his stepdad both got a new start at CityTeam.
Lorenzo knew he needed to make a fresh start. He just didn’t know where to find it . . .
. . . until one day when he was listening to his stepfather talk to his brothers about a place called CityTeam. “I think this program might be good for you,” he told them, trying to get them help for their drinking problem.
Lorenzo’s stepdad knew firsthand what CityTeam could do. When his wife — Lorenzo’s mom — died, his whole world crumbled. He began using meth to ease the pain and then selling it. Coming to CityTeam probably saved his life.
A DEVASTATING LOSS
That was the kind of hope Lorenzo desperately needed.
“When I was young, my mom was a drug addict, and I was raised by my grandparents,” he remembers. “But then she got clean and came back into my life. We never had the best relationship growing up, but it was getting better when she died — five days before my birthday. That really hit me hard.”
For the next two years, meth was Lorenzo’s only friend.
“I didn’t care about life, didn’t care about what I did. I didn’t care about anybody or anything,” he recalls. “Then I got off drugs and began drinking heavily, which cost me a job, my family relationships, and even my health.”
But like his stepdad, all that changed when Lorenzo walked into CityTeam.
“At first, all I wanted was to get sober,” Lorenzo recalls. “But the longer I stayed, the more I realized I wanted to change everything: my mindset, my sobriety, and especially my relationship with God.”
DOING THINGS “THE RIGHT WAY”
At CityTeam, Lorenzo found the new beginning his heart had been yearning for. “The classes here are amazing,” he says, “from anger management to relapse prevention.” Soon, he was checking off a list of opportunities and resources he received, from Bible studies and accountability partners to practical work experience in our kitchen and the chance to finally do things “the right way.”
Today, Lorenzo has his own car, works as a chef in the kitchen at a local university, and has even reconnected with an old girlfriend, whom he plans to marry sometime in the next year. He says he also wants to return to his hometown Mission and serve as both a counselor and a trainer to their kitchen staff.
“THIS PLACE SAVED ME”
Lorenzo is quick to credit God’s mercy — and friends like you — with his dramatic turnaround.
“This place saved me and changed my life,” he says. “I will be forever grateful.”
