About three weeks ago I was asked to write a testimonial about The North Austin 24 Hour Foundation and Project Helping Hands, and how it has been instrumental in my efforts to fight addiction to alcohol and drugs.

I am not usually at a loss for words, but this request has been most difficult for me to write. The North Austin 24 Hour Group as a whole is very precious and dear to me and I have a tendency to become very emotional when I speak about the organization.

Bottom line for me: WITHOUT THE NORTH AUSTIN 24 HOUR GROUP, AND ITS FACILITIES, I WOULD BE DEAD !!! This is not some hyped-up statement, but a professionally substantiated fact. My consumption of alcohol was so massive that Doctors told me that if I had NOT stopped when I did, I would NOT have survived. They were actually surprised that I was still alive and had no life-threatening and permanent damage to my brain and body.

A little about me: I am a native Austinite, 55 years old, have obtained and lost three fortunes, been married twice, grew up in the corporate world, started actively using alcohol and drugs when I was 12, got drunk the first time when I was 5, had no friends, was extremely miserable, was selfish and self-centered to the point that most people could not stand to be around me, and never did anything for anyone without demand and expectations of restitution. Today, thru sobriety, I have God in my life, enjoy all life has to offer, give back freely, am in a relationship with a wonderful woman, have friends, am a partner in two sober houses, am broke most on the time, and am the happiest I have ever been !! I feel blessed today!! I have all I need !!!

The desire to stay sober was ever present in me when I first arrived on August 24, 2007. I had been in a four and a half month black-out and had no idea where I was nor what had happened. I was disparate to stay alive and God had given me the opportunities to find my way to The 24, as we refer to the organization. My journey for a second chance in life began that morning! I feel very fortunate as most people never have the privilege to experience life for a second time. After nine days in a detox facility I returned to The 24 and stayed in the men’s dorm for three and a half weeks and then on to a rehabilitation facility for alcohol and drug addiction. During that time the staff provided me with the necessary tools to obtain medication, a psychological evaluation, and the other resources I needed to complete a 28 day in-patient treatment program.

Project Helping Hands provided me with a safe and clean environment to start the journey that I have experienced over the past seven years. The staff went out of its way to ensure my sanctity during a very vulnerable time in my life when outside people and situations can cause a great deal of chaos and insanity in a person’s life that is working to stay sober. Stopping the use of alcohol and drugs is the easy part; the challenge is in the day to day situations that can threaten my sobriety. The hard part is learning how to STAY sober. The 24 provide me the place and the tools to do just that.

For those of us that are in need of a place to start our journey, The North Austin Foundation provides that place with no expectation of repayment or obligation for the services they provide to all types of people. My only way for repayment is to pass the love that was given to me on to others.

My personal resolution includes anything and everything I can possibly do to ensure that The NA 24 will be there for others in need of their services.

I credit The 24 with being instrumental in the start of a new and better life for me. For the first time in my life I understand and actually pursue the Spiritual aspects of living and the desire for long-term gratification and pleasures instead of immediate short-term and short-lived shallow rewards. For the first time in my life I have a relationship with God. I have developed healthy and honest friendships. I am experiencing the first real relationship with a woman where honesty and open communication are practiced. My family and extended families are a part of my life again. The fellowship of a real brotherhood is mutual and devoted. I have a true feeling of belonging and being a part of something much larger than me.

What does the North Austin Foundation, Project Helping Hands, and all it represents mean to me? That’s easy: A START FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE AND LOVE LIFE THRU A SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, MYSELF, AND OTHER HUMAN BEINGS !!

I’ve heard a lot of people say that the North Austin 24 Hour Group was the last stop on the block for them. I say it is the FIRST step to a new way of life.

I thank God everyday of my life for the North Austin 24 Hour Group!!!

Forever in Recovery,

Larry D.

I would like to recount my experience with Helping Hands in my struggle to stay sober. It was always there when no one or nothing else was and I had fallen yet again. I only wish they had more resources to assist those who have detox problems, need work, etc.

I had only heard of it – I don’t know where – when I was detoxing and trying to stay sober again and was living in my car. They had no place I could stay, but told me where I should park overnight, and I at least had someone to keep me company at most hours of the day, and plenty of meetings.

Later on, I remember when an emergency room releasing me asked where they could take me. The only place was the 24 Hour Club. It was the middle of the night, and a kind soul (Manuel) took it upon himself to obtain a RX from an emergency room for me, and then purchased it himself as I had nothing but the clothes on my back and was detoxing horribly. Helping Hands then housed me for a week while my mind and body slowly became functional. I tried to get into Austin Recovery early each morning as they requested, and attended all meetings. It was the only safe place for me, as I knew I could not trust myself on my own. I actually had an apartment at the time, but did not dare go back there yet as the depression in my mind was so great, I would probably have tried harder to end my life.

When there was no professional help for me, at least there was a place to stay where I would be surrounded by other people who were in similar situations and had chosen to try a solution instead of death.

I am presently sober (3 years), and still need the company of those people who remind me where I came from, and provide me with a way to get out of myself by helping them whenever possible.

Thank you,

Kathy M.

I am writing this short testimonial about what the North Austin 24 and Project Helping Hands did for me. I came to NA24 on October 26, 2009 not kicking and screaming, but knowing that I needed help and this might be place to show me how. The staff had been talking to me over the phone for the two previous days before my father dropped me off. I had nowhere to go. My family had decided to give the tough love that I needed and to stop enabling me. When I came through the door of NA 24 I had a sense of relief before I even talked to anyone. I got there right before a noon meeting and they told me I needed to go to the meeting before they would talk to me about staying there and that is when I knew my life was about to change.

That day was the start of my journey and the miracles began. I had been in treatment 2 months before and stayed at a sober house down south, but I never felt comfortable in my own skin. Walking into the NA 24 I never felt so safe knowing that people actually talked to me and wanted to help me. My family loves me very much and they have never given up hope, but they did not understand why I could not stop. I stayed in the back for 3 weeks waiting to go to treatment. I continued going to intensive outpatient down south, because that was suggested by the staff and I listened. They gave me the tools to understand what was going in my life; they gave a safe place to stay, food in my belly, and friendships that will last me a lifetime.

My life today is full and complicated sometimes, but I attribute that to growing up. I found my job through NA 24 and I also found a wonderful man that I hope to spend the rest of my life with at NA 24, he also went through project helping hands. I honestly feel my life would not be like it is today if it was not for Project Helping Hands and North Austin 24 club. Thank You

Located on the North Side of Austin, some people might pass by the nondescript building on Prairie Trail without even noticing it. Others who drive by more often might wonder about what goes on there. There always seems to be people around, sometimes many vehicles in front sometimes very few but always something seems to be happening. Music, barbeques, dances and a lot of laughter are frequent occurrences there.

Inside those walls is a fellowship of men and women who share their struggles, fears, hopes, and successes with one another. They are looking for, and finding, a way to escape the cycle of addiction and learn to live life without drugs or alcohol. For many people NAF is their last desperate attempt to survive. To find something beyond the desperation and hopelessness that is their lives. NAF is the very last stop for many. They come here when there is no where else to turn.

At NAF resources are made available. There are beds in the back for people just coming off the streets, waiting to go to treatment facilities or sober living homes. I love these people who have come in and asked for sanctity in this place, a reprieve from the insidious nature of their addictions. Although I do not know their names just yet, I love them anyways. When I ask them to tell me what brought them to a place like this they tell my story. I listen because I was one of these people. I do it because it was done for me. It gives them a chance to unburden themselves to someone who understands. People who’s struggles have been very similar to their own. I have met men whose families could no longer tolerate the self destruction of the alcoholic, young people struggling with heroin, ladies who come from good homes who have lost everything. It reminds me of where I once was; prison, living under bridges, panhandling to feed my disease and at the very end, a death sentence from my doctors.

In continuing to do my service work I see God working in the lives of these people. As the days go by I begin to hear hope in their voices, their steps become lighter and, as their minds become clearer, plans for a future are made with cautious excitement. When they visit after they have been away in treatment and sober a little while I see a different person before me. They come back for more fellowship and love and encouragement. That is what we do here. Give hope. Here there is no judgment, we love them until they can learn to love themselves. We share our experience, strength and hope with them. As they get better they, in turn, help the next one who comes through those doors with nothing left to lose. For we must always give away what was so freely given to us in our first days in sobriety. It reminds us of our primary purpose, “To help the alcoholic who still suffers.” In helping others we stay sober ourselves.

I can’t begin to explain the blessings that I have received from the people in these rooms. Their acceptance, love, encouragement, friendship, compassion and wisdom have been a tremendous part of me being able to maintain my sobriety for more than 6 years. They have taught me how to love. They have cried with me, prayed with me, laughed with me. They have shown me how to be a friend, how to ask for help and how to be helpful. I am not alone anymore. We love without expecting anything in return. The newcomer, always the most important person in the room, is the one that I want to always be ready to do these things for. They give me a reason to continue to stay connected, to do my service work and never forget where I came from. In this place I find God.

For those who might wonder as they drive by what really happens in the nondescript building on Prairie Trail on the North Side of Austin. What truly happens is a miracle everyday. One Day At A Time. Thank you my friends! May God continue to bless you all.

Jennifer C. September 11, 2011

On Monday, September 3, 2012, I found my way back home. I had woken up with an empty feeling in my heart. I had come to my end in so many ways. I packed up all that I had and made the long walk to Project Helping Hand. It was hot but I knew my life hung in the balance. I was taken in with open arms, given a bed, a shower, and treated with respect. Something changed in me that day. I knew it was going to be a long path. I learned to be on time, how to be a person again, and gained my self-worth back. I am now and forever grateful to have grown in recovery with the seeds that Project Helping Hand helped plant.

Justin L., July 2015

It is very difficult to put into words just how incredibly blessed I am to have been at NA24 and Project Helping Hand (PHH) for 30 days. When I showed up at NA24, I was detoxing off of alcohol. It was 10 p.m. and I had been homeless for five days, scared, hungry, shaking and scantily dressed. You see, I am a 55 year old woman who has never been homeless before. I knew nothing of this new world of addiction.

Yes, I had been in recovery prior to my “yet” (my worst bottom), but had never been without resources. I had been trying for two months to no avail to get into Council on Recovery (a.k.a., Austin Recovery). PHH helped me do just that. Being at NA24 was just what this alcoholic needed to stay sober long enough to move forward and receive the help I needed!

Justin and the staff pushed me through the resources that Austin has to offer people suffering from this disease of addiction. God bless them for their efforts! NA24 has four meetings daily, Monday through Friday, and five on Saturday and Sunday. PHH offered me a safe, warm, very clean place to stay while I attended the meetings, received the much needed resources, and regained my dignity.

I have found some new, awesome, hopefully life-long friends (also clean and sober), a new home group of AA, and an emptiness in my soul that is now filling up! I owe it all to my Great Spirit and NA24/PHH. Thank you all for believing in me and for helping me so much.

Renee B., 5/2015

My name is Jana P. I was brought to Project Helping Hand (PHH) in December of 2010. This was a turning point in my life. They provided a safe environment for me to begin my journey in recovery from alcohol and drugs.

I was homeless for 10 years and had just been released from Texas Department of Corrections in November 2010. Project Helping Hand was instrumental in connecting me to resources that helped me along. There were on-site 12-step meetings available for me to attend and I continue to attend. Almost five years later I am so grateful to the Foundation and staff for their dedication. My whole life has turned around and I am overwhelmed when I reflect on the progress made in my life.

Thank you PHH for being here for myself and so many others who have recovered.