Take a moment to smile.
Now imagine your life without your family. Without a driver’s license. Without a car to your name. Without a job. Without stability. Without teeth… Are you still smiling?
The Strength of a Smile
Meet Gordon. A MentorWorks graduate who looked his painful past straight in the eye and smiled at his hopeful future. How could someone lose everything in life and still come out on top smiling? His answer? Four words. “MentorWorks saved my life.” Gordon had lost everything, from the stability of family life down to even losing his teeth. “I had 19 teeth pulled from using too much meth. My life was wide open. Empty.” But then, Gordon found MentorWorks and immediately made a commitment to not only take his treatment seriously but to excel in it, and he has.
“I haven’t missed one [drug test]. I haven’t missed one class. I also became [the house lead].” Gordon spent four consecutive months ending his long work days with three hour classes, all the while smiling at the possibility of getting back what mattered to him the most.
“My number one goal upon entering treatment was to get my children back in my life but I didn’t know how I was going to make up for it and be their father again.” Gordon went from being totally isolated upon his release to having eight people at his graduation, with his kids sitting directly in front of him. “Now I get three text messages a night from my kids, telling me I love you and goodnight.”
Gordon is now the proud owner of a driver’s license, a car with insurance in his name, a full-time job and a new set of teeth. “This is the best program there is if you are willing to put the work in. Joseph is the most caring man I have ever met, as well as Parker, Casey and the therapists. I was able to dig into my past failures and realize not all are my fault, accept it and move on.”
Gordon spent Christmas surrounded by his loved ones for the first time. Gordon’s smile was contagious as he explained what it was like to buy his three children gifts for Christmas and spend time with his grandbaby. “I can’t remember the last time my three kids and I were able to do that and it’s all thanks to this program.”
Join Us
Donate to MentorWorks and see the difference a second chance makes. You never know the strength of a smile, until they smile back. Like Gordon always says, “Believe in the universal law of attraction: What you give out is what you’ll get back and the universe will smile back on you.”