NPORTC Magazine

with us, and we talked.” Mr. Carter shared with his client, “I’m a recovering addict and formerly incarcerated too. I have twenty-nine years clean now. If I can do it, you can do it. We came from the same streets in Baltimore.” Another client came in broken, beaten

rather be in prison. Why? Because he’d been institutionalized. They tell him when to get up, when to eat, when to shower, and when to go to bed. And I’m trying. It’s a slow process, but I’m trying.” He and his team tell the client, “Give me one goal you want to accomplish.”

down, and with a walker. “We put a team of ladies around her. They helped and prayed for her to get through her demons of addictions and homelessness. We tell our clients, “We will reach down to help pull you up. You’ve just got to grab hold of that hand. Don’t let go, and we’ll love you until you learn to love yourself.” That lady is now one of

The client answers, “A job.” So, his team is looking to place him in a vocational program. Hands-on. That’s what NVHOH is all about. “I couldn’t ask for a better staff, from our executive team to our janitor. HOPE stands for Helping Other People Every day.”

our most prominent people. She’s the president of the CAB (Consumer Advisory Board). She tells us our clients’ needs because she’s been through it.” He adds wistfully, “Those are the stories I love to talk about. I’ve lost a lot of people in between; people who just took this [opportunity] for granted and didn’t make it.” But there is always hope,

including one gentleman who’d been in prison for thirty years. “He says he’d

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