TESTIMONIALS

Finding joy in recovery I remember the first day I walked into Teen Challenge SA – I felt lost and broken. The weight of my addiction was suffocating, and I had reached a point where I could no longer deny its grip on my life. For years, I had been caught in a cycle of…

If you had told me four years ago that I would be in the position I have found myself in today, I would have called you a liar. I came into Teen Challenge SA a broken mess. I had no semblance of a goal; I was passionless and suicidal. I’ve gone from that terrible place…

I began my journey to recovery on 20 February 2020. I initially didn’t want to go to the recovery program because, one, it meant following rules and, two, I was so far gone in my addiction that I didn’t see a way to fix it – no matter how good a program was available. It…

For the first time in 20 years, my family relationships are repairing. This is all thanks to God and the Living Free program.

Patiently waiting on God I was born into a middle-class family with a mother, father and sister. I went to a Catholic school and attended church on Sundays. I was timid at school and wasn’t really into sport. I always wanted connection and acceptance. I searched and tried many different social circles, trying to find…

A restored life I grew up in Canberra. I got diagnosed with autism at a young age and was always socially awkward as a kid. At about 13, I started struggling with mental illnesses like severe depression. I also moved from a public to a private school during this time, and at 15, my drug…

At Teen Challenge SA, our day starts how most functional households do. We live as a community, but our living quarters are made up of seven small houses, with up to four people in each, so before the day gets underway, it’s a normal morning run around of showers, breakfast and prayer. The first structured…

From death to life When I arrived at Teen Challenge South Australia, I was completely broken. I was homeless, living in a tent on the Murray River in the middle of winter, planning my suicide. Seventeen years of addiction had landed me in this situation. Planning my death was the only thing that would bring…

A bright and successful future I never thought I would ever do drugs, let alone get addicted to them. I grew up in a Christian home with good parents and a supportive family. I was always a keen sportsman – playing soccer every Saturday throughout my childhood and teenage years. I was constantly training and…

Prison or rehab I grew up in a poor household with my four other siblings, my father and my mother. My childhood was full of child abuse and hatred for each other. At the age of four, I was spending my days on the doorsteps of the pokies. There was never any food in the…