Mission gives Mario faith, family and freedom

Mario is grateful for the love and acceptance he’s received while at the Mission.

Mario always wanted to be part of a family. “I have had family problems since I was little. I thought the drugs that I was using would help me forget all my childhood pain. I started to use cocaine and methamphetamines to help me escape all my trauma.”

Before drugs, Mario struggled with alcohol starting at 16. “That too was a way to cope with the abuse that I had suffered as a child back in Mexico. It all started when my parents left me with someone else to raise me. I never knew my parents and that has caused me great pain all my life. On her deathbed, my ‘mom’ revealed I was adopted. I spiraled into drugs.”

Addiction quickly took hold. “My character changed. I lost my job and I felt like I lost my identity. When you get lost in drugs, you lose your sense of dignity. It feels like you’re drowning more and more by the moment. It was a vicious cycle to remember my pain, use drugs to make me forget and then to feel the shame of it all.”

After legal trouble, a judge required Mario to enter a program. His first experience was negative, but his case manager helped him transfer to the Mission.

There, everything changed. “When I arrived at the Mission, it felt like paradise here. It was such a gust of fresh air for me. I came with a lot of hate and anger, and I was full of pride. But here I have found forgiveness, peace, but most of all, I have found my Father in Heaven.”

In August 2025, Mario was baptized and began experiencing a new kind of love. “The Mission has given the love, the care, the safety and the space to heal,” he said. “All my life I felt like I was an outcast, like I didn’t belong. For the first time, I truly feel like I have family.”

Nearing graduation, and with renewed purpose, Mario plans to step back into construction and share how God has transformed his life. He’s especially thankful for those who helped make his recovery possible. “Donors give opportunities to people that need it so desperately,” Mario said. “Lives are being changed here. The Mission has given me a place to belong, a place to find friendship and a place to recover with dignity. May God bless those who bless others, and who help save people like me.”