Success Stories
Carlos Pagan
Maintenance Specialist, St. Matthew's House and Justin's Place graduate
I was introduced to drugs at age 12 while living in New York City. By 18, I was in jail for carjacking and B&E to support my habit. Following prison I got married, had four kids, and even though I was working, would sell drugs at night. I also started drinking more heavily. Then I started attending church, was baptized and got clean. After 17 years my marriage fell apart, and I literally walked away from the church. I became a self-proclaimed atheist and everything started going badly after that. I was "anti-God", using the Bible in an attempt to prove Him wrong. I went back to my old ways, and was introduced to smoking crack. I married someone after only four months, and after a horrible five years, my drug use eventually destroyed that relationship. By 2011 I had pretty much hit rock bottom. I sold everything I had for crack. One day my wife gave me an ultimatum, and that was the day I became homeless. I rode my bike past SMH not long after and decided to walk in. I didn't even know what it was. I told the lady in the front office I needed a place to sleep, and after a couple of nights I heard about Justin's Place. They told me it was a Christian program and even though I was an atheist, I decided to do it anyway. I figured I could get what I could and leave God out of it, but that wasn't His plan for me. We had to read the Bible, take Bible lessons, etc. Church was mandatory, so I started going to New Hope Ministries and applying the things in the program to my life. After a few months, going to church was no longer a burden. I felt God talking to me. From that point on, church was pretty much a refuge. Now I'm saving money and have my own car for the first time in years. In my heart and mind, I know I've been delivered. Once I was able to give up my own will and apply what I've learned, I can say that I'm happy because of what God has done with me through Justin's Place. God plays a big role in my life today.