Hope Served Daily

I was one of the “lost ones.” The kind most people look through or walk past. For years, I lived like a ghost—chasing the next high, trying to quiet the storm inside me. I didn’t believe in redemption. Not for someone like me.

But I was wrong.

I spent years homeless; living out in the woods of Pollock Pines, sleeping behind the CVS, building little huts out of sticks and pine needles just to survive. I’ve felt the cold. I’ve gone hungry. I’ve watched people give up on me… and for a while, I gave up on myself too.

But recovery didn’t come all at once. It came slowly, through small moments of grace. Through places like the Upper Room—where I could get a warm meal, clean clothes, and a hot shower when I had nothing else. They didn’t just hand out necessities. They handed out dignity. And sometimes, that’s what keeps a person going one more day.

My name is Ian Wright. I’ve been down. I’ve been lost. But today I’m clean, I’m present, and I’m building a life I’m proud of. I’m going back to school to become an addiction counselor—because I believe in giving back what was given to me.

If you’re struggling, please hear me: your story isn’t over. You are not too far gone. You are not broken beyond repair. People do recover. I did.

And I’ll keep showing up—for anyone who still thinks they can’t.