"Pivot saved my life"

A childhood filled with loss, abandonment, and abuse sent Donovan on a dark path. Anger led him to run away from home and get into fights in high school, then gang involvement, and, inevitably, drugs.

At age 20, he lost a child of his own, which compounded his feeling that the universe was aligned against him: "The only thing I cared about was taken from me. I disliked the man I was and overdosed several time, because I wanted to die," he said.

"But every time, I woke up - something kept me alive."

Donovan came to Horizons, run by Recovery Network of Programs, in Bridgeport, where he met Tyrell Timmons, Recovery Support Specialist and Pivot alumni. Donovan made the choice to come to Pivot and began the hard work of dealing with his trauma and estrangement from God.

"I came here not liking God, asking why I had to go through all the things I had to go through. Pivot taught me accountability, love, togetherness, family. Now I can say that God has turned my mourning into dancing.

"He was there all along - I just didn't notice Him."