Testimonials

When I entered WOTW in 2003 I had made a mess of my life. I was addicted to meth. I wasn’t fit to be a mother. My family stepped in and took my 18 month old daughter. My life was a mess. I had no idea how to even begin to do something different. Then I met the Director. Instead of judgement she showed me love and compassion. I found out that addiction is NOT a moral failure. Through the process of completing the program I became the mother God created me to be. I made life long friendships that carry me through all of these years later. I truly don’t know where my life would be today if I hadn’t walked into WOTW. Today I am a corporate executive, own my own home, my daughter just turned 21, I’m in a healthy and loving relationship. The list of miracles goes on and on…Thank you to all of the volunteers and dedicated women who continue to keep the doors open for women like me.

I was born and raised in Samoa, where we live by the motto “Samoa puts God first.” Our culture is extreme and unique in its own ways, such as love and respect being very highly valued. Our community was fairly small, with the island only being 22.7 sq. miles and a population of only 33,697. The only main road was a 2-way street from one end of the island to the other so there were no freeways or traffic lights. We had one police station, one fire station, one hospital, one community college, and four high schools. I was raised by wonderful parents that always worked hard to provide for their children.

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I started smoking cigarettes at a young age, then progressed to alcohol and marijuana heavily in high school. There were no “hard” drugs in Samoa back in the 1980’s. I graduated from high school in 1981 and my parents decided I should go live with my aunt and uncle in San Francisco, CA. I had never been off the island before and all kept thinking about was that show on TV called “Streets of San Francisco.” Ultimately, I ended up moving to a low-income housing area called Double Rock Projects (in San Francisco) with my grandmother instead. That is where I was first introduced to crack cocaine. I can still remember it like it was yesterday (I would continue chasing that first hit for the next 27 years). Crack consumed my life and everything started to fall apart. I did things that I never thought I would do, and it landed me in Bryant County Jail. That was my first experience of being incarcerated.

I ended up doing 4 separate prison terms, with the last one ending in 2013. Soon after being released on parole from the prison, I wound up in county jail again for a parole violation. My parole agent decided to put an ankle monitor on me, but that didn’t work, and I ended up with another violation. Even through all the chaos that was happening in my life, our island motto always stayed in the back of my mind: “Samoa puts God first.” I believe and trust in God, but I knew my life was out of control and I needed help. My agent agreed to give me one final chance to change my life and sent me to the Men on the Way drug treatment program in 2015.

At the program were 9 other men, with 4 of them being lifers released on parole. The staff could see that I didn’t want to be there, so they sat me down and told me that I could leave at any time, but that I should give myself some time to adjust before I made that decision because it was a good house, and the staff would be there to help me every step of the way. Since both of my parents passed away while I was still on parole (and I was unable to leave the country to attend their funerals) and my wife and children had no trust left in me, I decided to stay in the program and give it a try. I had asked God to help guide me to freedom and ended up attending Merritt College for 2 years while I was a client at Men on the Way. During the time I was still in college, I was hired as a substance abuse counselor at BAART Programs as my very first job! I finished my college courses and became a certified counselor in 2017. That year, I was also able to discharge parole and be truly free for the first time in years.

I’ve currently been working at BAART Programs for 6 years now and was actually hired on as a monitor at Men on the Way in May of 2016. I am so grateful for the Men on the Way Program and its staff. They helped me get my life and my family back. I’ve been clean & sober for 7 years now! All the glory to my Heavenly Father.