Join us Thursday, March 15th, 3:00-9:00 PM, at Chuck E. Cheese, 14085 Shoppers Best Way, Woodbridge, VA 22192.

Chuck E. Cheese will donate 15% of sales from the evening to StreetLight.

What better excuse to get out of the kitchen and enjoy a night out with your family while supporting StreetLight at the same time!

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• Grocery Pickup Drivers
• Grocery Store Coordinator
• Food Pantry Representatives
• Client Transportation for Harvest Banquet

• Canned Vegetables
• Pasta (Dry)
• Pasta Sauce (Cans or Jars)
• Meat (Except Fish)
• Eggs

He blames his decision to abuse substances on the spiraling events that cost him his home and his job, and led to his life in the woods of Prince William County. As an appliance repair technician, Gene covered Maryland, Virginia, and the DC area in his van. As substance abuse slowly displaced his control over his own life, he soon left routine but critical items undone.

Neglect – in this case not keeping up with his car insurance payments – led to catastrophe. After a traffic mishap, he lost his license for failure to hold car insurance. Major appliances do not come to repair technicians, however, so Gene continued to drive his van in order to make his calls. Eventually, a routine stop for an unfastened seatbelt brought him to a halt. The state impounded his van. When he subsequently missed his court date, a judge issued a bench warrant and a judgment for $9,000 against him on behalf of his insurance company.

“Then the bounty hunters came for me,” he tells me. After sixty-six days in jail, the judge released him for time served, but he had nowhere to live and without a van or a license, no way to continue supporting himself through his appliance repair trade. Gene found his way to the camp.

After several months in the woods, he began spending an occasional night in one of the men’s transitional homes. Today, he resides at the transitional home, where he pays 30% of his monthly income as rent. By requiring the payment of rent proportional to their income, StreetLight involves the newly housed residents in their own recovery and empowers them to retain personal responsibility. Gene works as a custodian and maintenance technician at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Woodbridge.

He pulls no punches when he talks to StreetLight guests about addiction. “That’s part of the reason you’re in the woods now,” he reminds one man. “It’s why I ended up there for seven months.”

Gene ultimately credits God for saving him from addiction. One day, before he moved out of the camp, he attended a weekly Harvest Banquet. At this particular event, Rose Powers, StreetLight’s executive director, spoke. She finished by asking if there was anyone present who wanted the Lord in his or her life, and Gene stepped forward. Rose laid hands on him and prayed with him as he asked the Lord to come into his life.

He still remembers the vibrant feeling of joy that filled him as they prayed together. Now, he testifies to the power he experienced. Explaining a recovery program to another client, Gene tells him, “It’s less about addiction counseling and more about being filled with God. Once you fill up on God, the other stuff loses its hold on you.”

Today he has paid for his two tickets from 2009, and enlisted the help of legal aid to help work out a payment plan with the insurance company. Once the company agrees to a payment plan, Gene will be able to apply for a license and continue his journey back towards full employment.

Transitional housing helps people like Gene make a new beginning. Gene, we are glad you came in out of the woods.

• Canned Vegetables
• Pasta
• Meat (Except Fish)
• Eggs

Financial Contributions

Volunteers

• Grocery Pickup Drivers
• Grocery Store Coordinator