I am a 22 year-old husband and father. I have a four-year-old son, a one-year-old daughter, and an awesome wife. To support my family, I operate heavy equipment for a contractor at a coalmine. We live in a modest home, and are a fairly average family.

I am also a convicted felon. I was sentenced to three - eight years on drug charges. Fortunately, since this was my first offense, I only served two and a half months in the State pen. Prior to that I served three months in county jail, and after the pen I served five months in Boot Camp.

I was released to the VOA after Boot Camp, and was a resident there for six months. While at the VOA I was required to attend counseling for addiction. I learned a lot about recovery and relapse prevention at the I.O.P. Program, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous. But the VOA is what changed my life the most.

The pen was nothing like real life, it was just boring. Boot Camp didn’t resemble any form of society either. The VOA was the only controlled environment that I had been in that had options and remote freedom. Rather than orders and demands, I was given choices. I could choose my job, and I could choose who I associated with.

After watching many of my friends get rolled up for poor decisions. I realized quickly how to get through “the System.” I had a motto while in the VOA, “the best way to get away with something wrong is to not do it.” Ever since I got out of the VOA I’ve lived by that idea.

I am currently on probation, and have five years left. I have had no incidents, or write-ups in three years, and I do not foresee any problems. My life is one hundred percent different than it was prior to the conviction, and five hundred percent easier.

Tim