When Daryl came to Memphis Union Mission, he was a wreck of a man. “On payday, I would have three drug dealers waiting for me. There was no way I could pay them off,” Daryl says.
“I prayed to God and told Him I was going to put my trust in Him. I got paid early and snuck out to the bus station. I asked the attendant where the next bus out was going. He told me Memphis, and I said I would take it.”
With nothing but his latest paycheck, the clothes on his back and hope for a fresh start, Daryl boarded the bus. However, there were still a lot of temptations in Memphis. “My first night, I found out where to find the weed, the crack and the liquor. I knew I couldn’t change by myself. So when a guy told me about the Memphis Union Mission, I went in and signed up for the program.
Daryl worked hard, going through the eight-month program and attending church and Bible studies. When he completed the program, he knew he wasn’t quite ready to leave. “All I have done since age 13 was get high. I didn’t know how to live sober.” Continuing his recovery in the Mission apartments, Daryl worked and saved his money. At the end of a year, he had enough for a car.
After two years, Daryl joined a government program to buy his first home. He moved into a boarding house while he waited for his home. He soon discovered his housemates were drug users. Living with those temptations tested Daryl’s commitment to sobriety, but his faith helped him persevere until his home was ready.
A few years later Daryl moved from that home to a nicer one. He now rents his first house at favorable rates to graduates from the Mission, wanting to save them from the temptations he knew in the boarding house.
Daryl knows God changed him and blessed him through the Memphis Union Mission. He has gone from sleeping on the banks of the Mississippi to helping others along their journey.
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