Helping Others Find Hope
Corey entered Adult & Teen Challenge Ohio Valley when his life of addiction became unmanageable.
“I was only liked because I partied and I supplied and I had a place to party at,” said Corey, 38. “I was just sick of that crazy lifestyle.”
He started drinking when he was 15. He grew up in a good family and did well in school, but when he started riding freestyle BMX bikes, his addiction took root. He was hanging around with different people and started partying and drinking. He dabbled with drugs as he got older.
A native of Grafton, Ohio, Corey will graduate from ATCOV in September 2024, and then he will be entering the internship program. He’ll be “just maintaining growing with the Lord and helping other addicts in recovery just as I was myself and show them that there is hope,” Corey said.
After that he wants to stay in counseling or some type of ministry — some way he can help others. “I’m a welder/fabricator by trade,” Corey explained. “That’s what I went to school and got certified for, but I think I want to stay in this direction and lead people on the right path and just help others.”
Since getting close with God, Corey feels that’s his calling. He has a passion for it and can feel for others in addiction. He wants to show others that with the Lord’s help, they can overcome their addictions and begin a normal, healthy way of life.
Corey wasn’t raised in a church family and had doubts about God through much of his life. His mother died of cancer when he was 18 and he blamed God.
This marks his second stay at ATCOV. He didn’t complete the program the first time. Before returning about six months later, he got sick. He had pneumonia and an abscess on his lung.
“I was in really bad shape,” Corey said. “I went to the hospital and then they put me in an assisted living program for a little while.” Lying in bed in the assisted living facility, he started asking why.
“I heard that still, small voice that said, ‘Son, I’m here,’” he said. “At that moment, I knew I had to come back to Teen Challenge and finish what the Lord had started with my life.”
Corey’s relationships with family members are better now, too, and he’s happy.
“I’m joyful every day.”
