| Leon | | | | Michelle brought together twenty concerned friends |
| "Leon" thinks his drinking first got out of control in | | | | from school, daycare, and people whom she knew |
| 1978 - the year his first wife left for good with their | | | | cared about her son in an effort to generate ideas of |
| four children. Over the next 25 years, his life was | | | | how to help Bruce. A number of options were |
| littered with brushes with the law, hospitalizations, | | | | discussed. Bruce was lucky to have so many |
| incarcerations, and another failed marriage. | | | | believers who could see his potential. As by chance, |
| Leon, who suffers from bipolar disorder, says his | | | | someone in the group knew about a local mental |
| illness could cause him to spend $1,000 an hour in a | | | | health center and that is how Bruce's story of |
| manic fit to being so depressed he couldn't leave his | | | | renewal began and continues. |
| home for weeks. Alcohol helped him feel better for a | | | | Michelle accompanied her son Bruce to the local |
| while, but he didn't like who he had become. | | | | mental health center in September of 2004. In her |
| After several tries at becoming sober on his own, | | | | words, the organization and the people at who |
| Leon was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The | | | | volunteered there were a "blessing." When asked to |
| people who worked with him made two things very | | | | elaborate, she is eager to tell of their patience and |
| clear. "I had to stop drinking, and I had to take | | | | insight in helping to deal with Bruce. As she feared |
| medication for my bipolar disorder," Leon said. | | | | losing her son to a series of transfers to other |
| After being sober for four months, he made amends | | | | organizations, the local mental health center gave |
| with his former wife and their daughter. Leon's mood | | | | constancy and stability that helped bring the entire |
| swings have stabilized, he recently celebrated his third | | | | family closer. |
| anniversary of continuous sobriety and he has gone | | | | His progress in managing his behavior and feelings |
| back to school to become a licensed drug counselor. | | | | pleased Michelle tremendously. As the behaviors and |
| Michelle | | | | emotions started to calm, a new boy began to |
| After overcoming a journey of painful addiction, | | | | emerge, and so his potential became clearer. |
| "Michelle" brought her child to the mountains in search | | | | For the first time ever, Bruce will be realizing one of |
| of hope. There she found knowledge, hope, and | | | | his dreams: to play on a baseball team. As her child's |
| compassion. | | | | and her family's lives are becoming more grounded, |
| Michelle, mother of five, ranging in age from eight to | | | | Michelle was also able to reflect on her own personal |
| 23, came to a local mental health center two years | | | | growth. She has decided that she would like to |
| ago with her son "Bruce." Her youngest, a | | | | become a Drug and Alcohol Counselor. Her other son |
| first-grader, was having behavioral problems in school, | | | | Tony, age 10, is also being helped by a local mental |
| making it necessary for her to take over sixty days | | | | health organization program and is excelling as well. He |
| off work to help deal with her son's challenges. This | | | | is currently taking karate, competing, and bringing |
| led to problems with her job. Disciplinary methods and | | | | home trophies. Clearly, this family has been to the |
| short-term answers did not help in managing her son's | | | | mountains and crossed over to the other side. |
| behavior. | | | | |