It’s 2001 and my whole world comes crashing down. I buried my mother – Doris  Tanner Matthews – the best friend I ever had in this world and a good mother.  Without her love and support, I started drinking and soon after turned to drugs.  I was losing control of my life fast. My relationship with a friend fell apart, and I lost the job that I loved, working at the Alden Park Luxury Apartments.  When I lost my job, I lost my home, too (one of my benefits was a luxury apartment worth  $1,400 a month at no charge).

I t’s now early 2003.  I’m living in my car. The weather’s starting to break, and I have nowhere to go.  I’m sitting in Vernon Park when a thought comes to me-the Whosoever Gospel Mission…