Where Are They Now? | Rich Heitz
Because of a cocaine addiction Rich picked up when he was 17, much of Rich’s early life was a blur.
“I spent 8 years locked up: 3 years in prison, 5 years in county jail,” Rich remembers.
“I was in and out of jail and homeless off and on for 7 years.”
With so much time on the inside, incarceration started to seem like a home away from home. So, when he was arrested again on a heroin charge in 2013, he told his probation officer to send him back to the yard. With a single word, the officer changed Rich’s life.
He said “No.”
“He told me that he could see in my eyes that I wanted to quit but couldn’t on my own. He sent me to Phoenix Rescue Mission instead.”
What Rich found here he couldn’t believe.
“When I saw the guys in the program, they were hugging each other and telling each other that they loved them. There was nothing weird about it. I liked that. It felt like a true brotherhood. People were actually looking out for each other and not trying to hold each other back. It was a life that I didn’t know existed prior to 2015.”
Three weeks later, Rich asked Jesus into his life and nothing has been the same since. He graduated from our recovery program in 2017.
“After I graduated, I started looking outside the Mission for employment. I had three great interviews. But then about a week later, I was called into the office at PRM. They asked me how I’d feel about working for them. God heard my prayers and opened doors for me.”
Today Rich is back on the streets, but this time, he’s spreading a word of hope, help, and transformation as part of our Street Outreach Team.
“I love it. I go everywhere: Avondale, Goodyear, Surprise, Peoria, Glendale, Scottsdale, Phoenix; wherever I’m needed. I walk up to people with needles in their arms and provide them with water, hygiene items and hope.”
From no future, to helping others find a brand-new future, that’s what your support of Phoenix Rescue Mission makes possible.
“Every day is different. God took an old burnout, running and gunning for 30 years, and now He has me working for his glory; I love it!”
