Watch a video of Jesus' testimony here.
“My name is Jesus. I’m 20 years old and I was born and raised in Merced. I’ve been here all my life. I got into some trouble with some old friends and I started doing drugs and it went all sideways from there. I started hanging out with the wrong people and it was going on and on. I had a car at that time, and I started drinking and driving. I ended up getting in a car crash, I crashed into a fence. That’s when I ended up going to jail.
After that happened, the process of going to court, they were trying to put me in programs that I wasn’t old enough to go to. Then they introduced me to the Rescue Mission, I took the deal and they told me I would be able to do nine months there.
That program has taught me a lot of things about life, about God, and how [faith] has changed people, it opened my eyes. I’ve been going to church ever since, Celebrate Recovery and other programs for us to have success in life. I learn something new every day.
I graduated on January 11th. I’ve been working and I have a good job at Restore Merced, picking up trash all over Merced. Four days a week, five hours a day trying to restore Merced, trying to provide for my family. It makes me feel good to give back to the community. I’ve been with them for almost five months. They have job training classes and I graduated from that too, it’s an eight-week process.”
-Jesus, MCRM Graduate
"I have witnessed Jesus develop as a person, and a father. It has been a wonderful experience and a pleasure getting to know Jesus and watch him grow in his faith, and recovery."
- David Carr, Director of Care Services