Kyle’s Story
I’m Kyle from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and I’m part of a big family of six. My mom, a beacon of strength, juggled two jobs to give us a life filled with love, even after leaving an abusive marriage when I was just five. Unfortunately, hardship followed us, as our stepfather was harsh and very abusive towards me and my siblings, leaving me with deep and emotional scars.
My mother, resilient as ever, ended that marriage, too, and moved us to Pulaski to have a fresh start. During my teenage years, my biological father returned to our lives, showing us a different, kinder side of him. He was humorous and hardworking, a contrast to the past. I cherished the four years I worked with him at his tire shop until tragedy struck, and he took his own life.
In the wake of my father’s death, I started tampering with Adderall and Oxycodone. Within a year, by the age of 19, I was a full-blown heroin addict, shooting up anything I could get my hands on.
“There was always a void in my life before coming to ATCNEW, but I don’t feel that void anymore.”
I remember overdosing with my younger brother, which was one of the scariest and most divine moments in my addiction. My brother and I were practically dead that day, but thankfully, we were both granted another chance at life through the paramedics reviving us through Narcan.
This turning point led to my first belief that God existed. Even with my newfound faith, the struggle continued. I met the woman who would become my daughter’s mother. Both of us were in the grip of addiction when she became pregnant. Determined to do right by our child, we aimed for sobriety, but unfortunately, our daughter was born amidst our battle. Her early months were spent in the NICU, where the only thing I could do was again pray. I cried every day by her bedside, praying she would get better. And it happened—she became healthy and thrived.
That's when I decided to join Adult & Teen Challenge Northeastern Wisconsin. This is the longest I have ever been clean in the past 14 years. There was always a void in my life before coming to ATCNEW, but I don’t feel that void anymore.
After finishing the year program, I will be stepping into a staff intern roll at ATCNEW. I know I will be the father my daughter deserves—a good Christian man and a role model for her. Most of all, I want to be the man God created me to be and no longer the man I made myself to be.