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Dear Jim,

I am sure that you receive a great many letters from people who feel truly blessed to have received the loving care that you and your staff provide. I would therefore like to describe myself, so that you may know exactly who is writing to you. You may remember me as the young man who jumped rope incessantly. I was also the person who smoked banana peels while in treatment. I also physically threatened other residents.

My dad recommended that I be transferred to another center. Along with Manny, you and I spoke to my dad on the phone, and vehemently argued against this. I wound up going to the other treatment center, and I walked out a few days later. That was truly a depressing time for me. I didn't know where to turn, but I knew I still needed help.

You and my mother had extensive correspondence during this time. The best offer that you were able to make was for me to return, and allow my peers to decide whether or not to accept me back. After all the stunts that I had pulled, there was no telling how they were going to respond.

When I returned to Oasis, most if not all of the residents strongly expressed their desire to have me removed. I clearly remember the experience. During a special meeting to determine my fate at the center, they really let me have it. It was then that I realized for the first time how much I had affected the rest of the group. I was very sad and upset with myself.

At the end of that meeting, you told the entire group that you were going to decide whether or not to readmit me into the program. You left the room for about fifteen minutes. When you returned, you said that I would be given one more chance to prove myself, and only one chance.

That decision has meant more to me than you could ever know. I am writing to you so that you might have some understanding of the true appreciation that I feel. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes right now. I will always remember the care that you provided me in my time of great need.

Your lovely wife Kathy, and Manny are also in my prayers for all that they did for me. Thank you for your love of the L-RD, and for encouraging prayer as strongly as you do. This is the greatest lesson of all! I still wake up, and go to my bed, after my knees touch the floor.

Next month, I will be celebrating my two-year wedding anniversary with my wife Donna. We met at a Messianic Congregation a few months after I finished the program. Now I have a prayer partner to kneel with before I go to bed each night.

We are now living in Michigan, as this is where most of my family lives. I have decided to pursue a degree in Social Work, so that I may be able to help others the way that you helped me. The Admissions Office at Eastern Michigan University, where I am applying, requests a personal statement for admission to their Master of Social Work (MSW) program.

The instructions for writing the statement ask if there have been any life experiences that have contributed to my interest in pursuing a degree in Social Work. My entire experience at Oasis clearly comes to mind, and will definitely be included in my personal statement. You, and your staff are truly doing the L-RD's work. I feel truly blessed for the time I spent at your treatment center. Because you helped me, now I am able to help others.

Sincerely,

Glen B.