Let Freedom Ring
Being out there on the streets every day, trying to feed a drug habit, isn’t any kind of life, Randy Bogart says with a sigh, describing the toll his 30-year drug addiction has taken on his life. If it wasn’t for the Mission’s Christian Life Program, I’d probably be dead right now.
Randy was just 18 when he got hooked on speed. For years he was a functional addict, coming to work when he was high on drugs. But as his drug addiction grew out of control, Randy began missing work and was fired. Homeless, he lived off of friends.
The addiction got real bad, he remembers. I ended up breaking all kinds of laws to feed the addiction.
Randy did hard time for forgery. During another stint in jail, his face was crushed in a brawl. Doctors had to use metal plates, screws, wires and a rib bone to reconstruct Randy’s face.
After he was caught with methamphetamine a few years ago, Randy was given a choice: Go to prison or get on a drug rehab program. He came to the Mission, and his life has not been the same since. I am drug free, says Randy. I’m headed in the right direction. The good Lord has seen fit to keep me around. I’m not sure what my purpose is, but I’m finding out a little more each day.
