A Journal of the Journey: One Man?s Rescue Story
Michael Merritt was crouched underneath a highway bridge, trying to find shelter from the frigid January wind. He’d been living on the frozen street for weeks, begging for money and riding the city bus for hours just to stay warm. But when some good Samaritans spotted him and pulled over, everything changed.
“They told me that I didn’t have to sleep under a bridge, and they told me about City Union Mission,” Michael remembers.
Michael’s life had been a battle since he drew his first breath. Born to a 12-year-old girl, he was shuttled between relatives until he was 15. That’s when he quit school and went out on his own. A year later, he joined the Marine Corps.
Remembering his youth, Michael says, “I did everything to feed the flesh.”
He later became an accomplished chef in Memphis and started to live the high life, indulging in alcohol and drugs, dating lots of women and buying luxury goods.
In 2003, Michael moved to Kansas City to be with family. He wasn’t here long when he went on a terrible drug binge, spending every penny he had to get high.
As a result, he says, “I became homeless. I wandered around Kansas City in the snow.”
But the night the good Samaritans told him about City Union Mission, Michael’s life took a dramatic turn. As he started the long trek here, he took his first steps toward a radically new life.
Step 1: Overnight Guest
When Michael Merritt arrived on our doorstep that frigid January night, he was sick and malnourished. We gave him a hot shower, a filling meal and a warm bed. He saw one of our counselors. Then, we provided him free medical services to help him get his diabetes under control.
“I stuck to myself, and didn’t talk to anybody,” Michael says of those first few weeks. But before long, he began to change. Through the Mission’s Job Hunter’s program, he landed a job. And, in the evening chapel, Michael heard the Gospel and accepted Christ.
By summer, Michael left the Mission, but after relapsing on drugs, he returned to the Mission for help.
“Here I was, no money in my pocket and I hadn’t eaten for two days, and the Mission gave me a bed,” he says. “Something told me that night that I needed to sign up for the Christian Life Program (CLP).”
Step 2: Christian Life Program
In our intensive discipleship and recovery program, Michael experienced a dramatic transformation. Men on the CLP live in special quarters and spend their days in Bible study, life-skills classes and work therapy. They receive counseling, educational assistance and job training. This three-phased program can last for up to a year.
“The CLP is about growing in your personal relationship with God,” Michael explains.
Through his Savior’s power and with the help of our staff and volunteers, Michael overcame his drug addiction. In August, he graduated from the CLP a new man, ready to start the next phase of his journey.
Step 3: Transitional Living Program
“It’s like a dream,” Michael says of the apartment where he will live for the year he is in the Transitional Living Program (TLP). “When I come into my apartment, I feel safe and comfortable. I thank God every day when I look at all I have.”
Through the TLP, CLP graduates simulate what it’s like to live independently, paying their rent and utilities. The men receive minimal supervision but participate in Bible study/support group meetings.
Michael is now working two jobs and dreaming about the future. Whatever God has in store for him, he knows that his life will be radically different than it was when he first walked in our doors.
“This place is so much more than a homeless shelter,” he says. “They have endless resources for those who want to change their lives. There’s no end to the love here.”
