There's a Reason

Ashton didn’t grow up with exposure to any type of God or spiritual presence. But he always believed that there was something.

“Going through my active addiction, I still believed, but I just thought that my deity, God, or whatever it was, was mad at me. That they didn’t like me very much. In recovery it’s turned more into a relationship, like a really strong bond. What I would imagine a parent-child relationship would be like. Growing up, I didn’t have that at all. I understand now that my creator was always with me and looking back, there were times that I should have been dead. A couple of times I did die, and they brought me back against statistics and odds. It wasn’t until I fully surrendered to my creator and admitted that I couldn’t do it on my own anymore that this heaviness I’ve carried was lifted.

Today, I believe that my higher power will take me where I’m supposed to be and put me with the people I’m supposed to be with when I need to be there. I recently awoke hearing a voice – it was so powerful - saying, ‘You are here to give hope. You survived so that others could see that it was possible.’”

Over the Moon

Before Step Denver, Jeremy couldn’t hold down a job due to his drinking. Today, he is working as a Composite Technician at Lockheed Martin. That’s right, he builds spaceships. He credits his recovery for this win because without sobriety, his fear of failure always outweighed everything else.

“If I was still actively drinking, I wouldn’t have tried because I knew that I’d fail. I’d screw it up somehow. Being sober gave me the confidence to apply, to try. This job is a huge part of my recovery. I can’t go back to drinking and using. I have way too much to lose.”

Work Hard, Play Hard

“Just going to get f****ed up with people around the corner, that was my social life.” Before he came to Step Denver, David didn’t have a strong community to depend on. Today, he’s someone who has stepped up to help build community here. “It’s hard at first, walking through those doors and listening to all the rules. It can be intimidating. I just want to give a little bit of comfort and hope to the guys.”

One of the eight areas of wellness Step teaches and emphasizes is creating a healthy social life. We also teach the men how to be there for each other (peer recovery). David has taken that to the next level. In his free time, he has been bringing residents together to play basketball at rec centers, have pizza and movie nights, and even shows up with ice cream for the house on occasion. “We can go out and have fun still. 99% of this program is working on recovery, but there’s still a little wiggle room to do things you didn’t get to do when you were drinking and using. We can still have fun and get sober at the same time.”