Homeless and hopeless, Dan Oller arrived last year at the Charlotte Rescue Mission, skeptical that its addiction treatment program could help him when 11 others had not.

“There’s always that doubt in your mind, once you’ve failed over and over,” said Oller, who started drinking and doing drugs when he was 12. “I was thoroughly beaten this time. I was willing to do anything.”

For Oller, now 49, the mission’s Christian-based approach has been a wellspring of faith, helping him navigate the path to recovery.

“There’s no doubt what’s different this time: the understanding of God that I lacked all my life,” said Oller, who graduated the program last summer and became the mission’s maintenance supervisor. “There’s no other explanation.”

The mission’s clients are homeless alcoholics and drug addicts, served in its residential program. But on Thanksgiving and Christmas, the mission opens its doors to a wider swath of the needy and their families.

Read the rest of Dan’s Story at Charlotte Observer.

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