QUINCY (WGEM) - Former addicts find hope through the new Salvation Army peer support program.
Three people with histories of drug addiction, homelessness and prison time have found new purpose through The Salvation Army's Peer Support Program in Quincy.
Josh Stevens, who has been sober for three and a half years, works as a peer support specialist at The Salvation Army. He helps people like Damien Gardner and Sam Calvert, who are working to rebuild their lives after hitting rock bottom.
"A peer support specialist is someone with lived experience, whether with addiction, mental illness, who's in recovery and walks alongside people looking to recover as well," Stevens said.
Stevens said his addiction began with pain pills and progressed to heroin and meth. He experienced multiple overdoses before deciding to seek help.
"I had a really bad overdose. Two days later, I overdosed again. A couple weeks later, I overdosed again and I was laying in a hospital room all by myself... lonely, no one there... and I was just tired of it," Stevens said.
Gardner said he served prison time for stealing police cars and robbing drug dealers. He described himself as "a very violent person" who used heroin, meth, cocaine and ecstasy.
His turning point came on April 19, 2017, when he learned his young daughter, who he had been told died in a car crash 10 years earlier, was still alive.
"She came running into the counselor's room saying, 'I love you, daddy.' She said, 'I'm sorry for all the things I thought about you,'" Gardner said.
Calvert said she was homeless and living in the woods with a friend. She said she suffers from mental illness and used methamphetamine.
Her lowest point came when she lost her son to foster care. "The last thing he said to me... and I repeat these words over and over. He said, 'Mommy, are you going to go to jail and I'm never going to see you again?' That was probably it," Calvert said.
Heidi Howard, Regional Social Services director for The Salvation Army Quincy Area Command, hired Stevens in March after he applied for a position posted in December 2024.
"I read his application and called him in... within minutes, 'There's my guy. There's my guy,'" Howard said.
In eight months on the job, Stevens has connected more than 60 people with mental health or substance abuse help and found more than 20 people a place to live.
"I build relationships with people, and it's tough to see people have to go back through the same repetitive cycle when I know they don't have to," Stevens said.
Gardner said he now has a full-time job and his own residence. Calvert is writing a book about her life and plans speaking engagements for churches and civic groups.
"Josh is a different breed of person. He cares about every single person. He gives 110% because he really cares about you, and he wants you do to better," Calvert said.
Stevens said his approach focuses on not giving up on clients while avoiding enabling behavior.
"They most likely have this wound inside of them from something that happened. Their best solution they have at the time is to put a chemical in their body. Don't ever give up on them. Don't enable them, but don't give up on them," Stevens said.
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If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction or homelessness, here are some resources to help: