Success Stories
Todd Melkowitz
Volunteer on desk, residents' bicycles and anything else
I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict. I had broken my shoulder and after that I broke my hip and couldn't work. I ended up in the woods, wallowing in the weeds dragging my crutches behind me with a broken hip. Before coming here, this is what I considered normal: Wake up around 4am and drink a beer or two, smoke a couple of cigarette butts that I had scrounged off the ground or out of an ashtray. Basically, and I can speak for other people, you wait until 7am because that's when they're allowed to sell beer. I would proceed to drink until I passed out, then wake up and do it all over again. That was a typical day in my case. That's the way it is living out there in the woods. People would give me money, but I'd tell them I wasn't hungry; I needed a beer, and they'd give me money for beer. It's a terrible life, but that's what I considered normal back then. I was talked into coming down to St. Matthew's House which was a very good thing. That was May 1, 2005. I've been here ever since. It might seem like a long time, but a normal life today is not wondering where my next beer or cigarette is coming from. I look forward to getting out of bed and doing whatever it is I have to do. Now I'm able to help people in other ways. I got my driver's license back. I have a car. People ask for all kinds of help in all kinds of ways. Somebody might need a ride to the doctor or a meeting. I have friends that don't drive but they do need to go shopping and things like that. That's the bottom line. St. Matthew's House saved my life and without it, I wouldn't be here. St. Matthew's House has turned my life around 180 degrees. Aside from getting me away from the drinking and the drugs, it's allowed me a chance to go back to school and basically, I guess, gather my thoughts about me. I've got a little perspective about what I want to do with the rest of my life. It's about helping other people.