Resident Recognition: Anthony

Anthony seemed to have it all together. He was young, healthy and had a great job working at TPC San Antonio and with the PGA tour. But his drinking was getting worse.

He started calling in all the time, coming in late, showing up with a bad attitude. Eventually his boss just couldn’t take it anymore, and Anthony was fired. His family was shocked and upset, but he didn’t care, he just wanted to keep partying, having fun while it lasted. 

Eventually he got hired back to his old position, but the partying followed. Without the tools to help him make better choices he fell right back into his old patterns and got fired a second time. 

That’s when his family threw him out. 

He quit caring at all and started living on the streets full-time. He spent his last paycheck on “beer, cigarettes and a little bit of dope”.

Eventually he ran out of everything, including beer, cigarettes and dope. He had nothing. 

It was when his situation was at its worst that a woman drove past him, and then pulled over. 

“You look pretty bad. You need to get something to eat.” 

She gave him $10 without him even asking. Because he was starving, he went to use the money to buy food. But Anthony was in such bad shape that the store owner refused to let him in the store, even when Anthony showed him the $10 from the good Samaritan. The owner grabbed a baseball bat and chased him out of the store and then called th

e cops, who showed up and handcuffed Anthony.

“You have two choices right now. You can go to Bexar County jail, where you DO NOT want to go, or you can get clean.” 

Anthony voluntarily entered treatment. He spent one week in detox, followed by 10 months in treatment. But Anthony was faced with another challenge. While he was on the streets, he had lost everything, including his license, social security card and birth certificate. Luckily, he remembered his social security number and birthday. Armed with that minimal information and with the help of his recovery coach and the folks at Haven for Hope, he began slowly rebuild his life.

As Anthony approached the end of his treatment program he had a choice to make. He thought about how much he had put his family through, and he wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again. Although initially he had intended to return home after treatment, he came to the realization that he needed more time. Enter Pay It Forward.

Anthony moved into our dorm six months ago. When new residents join us they are informed about the structure and rules of our program. One of those rules is that residents are given one month to secure employment. Anthony wasn’t about to take that long. 

That same day he found the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, sat down at one of the computers in the dorm and filled out 12 job applications. It took him all day. Not long after that he received an email from Home Depot saying they were interested in meeting with him. He started working there in January and has since grown and excelled.

In addition to the resources, structure and support that he’s found through Pay It Forward, he gives Street2Feet credit for his healthy recovery.

“I run with them a lot. I do a lot of the 5Ks. That’s one of the big reasons why I stuck around. I was still smoking cigarettes when I started treatment. I’m not smoking anymore.”

Anthony is most looking forward to being there for his nephew after he graduates our program.

“Really, I just want to go back home to my nephew. I was the one who used to take care of him, because my sister, she’s in addiction too.” For now, Anthony gets to see him every other week, where they hang out and go on runs.

The last time Anthony had any alcohol, drugs or cigarettes was March 7, 2023.