Hope Reborn - Fort Collins Rescue Mission

This Easter, you are opening doors to turn desperation into spiritual transformation. For men like Justin, you showed him that a path out of homelessness and addiction can lead to faith, hope and new life.

Justin even wrote a song about his journey, and some of the lyrics guide this story:

“It’s a lonely road; I’ve been broken.”

When Justin lost his mother four years ago, the grief sent him into isolation, addiction and homelessness. “I lost my apartment, got addicted to drugs and ended up on the street,” he said.

He had never experienced homelessness before and had to quickly adapt to life on the streets. “It’s a very lonely, very cold, dark place.”

Then one night, a frightening encounter left him convinced he might not survive. A man was misled to believe that Justin had wronged him, but the next thing he knew, Justin was being helped by that same man. He can’t explain it other than, “God saved me that night.”

That night, Justin prayed like he never had before. “The next thing I knew, I was at the guy’s house. He was feeding me, letting me take a shower, sleeping on his couch, and he drove me wherever I wanted to go the next morning.”

That experience, Justin said, “scared me enough to ask for help.” And it wasn’t until someone helped him get a ride to Harvest Farm, that everything began to change.

“Now I know I’m strong enough and good enough, and for once, I’m trying hard enough.”

When Justin arrived at the Farm, he remembers waking up to “everything clean and beautiful.” Staff saw something else too: a man still in survival mode. “He had a very distinct street persona,” said Dave Sterner, Chaplain at Harvest Farm. “That has been slowly changing.”

Those changes take time—time to feel safe, time to trust and time with people who will simply listen. “A lot of the guys have not had an opportunity to have someone just listen. And that’s what we do. We listen and we don’t judge,” Dave said.

For Justin, the listening ears came from many directions: staff, other men in the program and church. For someone with strained family relationships, the community he has found has been lifesaving.

“It’s like a whole family,” he said. “If I feel sad, I can go to people that I know here, and they help me get out of the funk. Out there, I didn’t have anybody to turn to.”

Stephen Ronquillo, Community Life Lead, sees that transformation too. “When I first met him, he was still in that street mentality. It takes time to come out of that realm. But he’s receptive. I’ve seen growth in him.”

Bill Dominguez, Clinical Support Specialist, agrees. “Watching what Jesus did in his heart has been powerful,” he said.

Bill remembers when Justin wasn’t sure about baptism. Instead of telling him what to do, he simply asked, “What is God telling you?” Justin knew instantly.

“I needed to get baptized,” Justin said. “God saved my life. The only way I could profess my gratitude was to leave the old person behind.”

“The hurt runs deep but the love runs deeper.”

Justin was baptized at a local church alongside six others, three of whom were New Life Program participants.

“I felt really warm—like something was taking all the bad stuff out of me,” he recalled. “I woke up the next day and my bones hurt. All the years of doing bad things to my body felt like it was getting fixed.”

At Harvest Farm, spiritual development is a vital part of recovery. “Addiction is a physical and psychological problem,” Chaplain Dave said. “But it’s also a spiritual problem. We’re trying to help so that drugs are displaced by a relationship with God.

“Now I’m living with a purpose.”

Today, Justin continues to grow in his faith, community and recovery. He attends church weekly, meets regularly with staff and is building healthy relationships—something he didn’t believe he was capable of before. “I choose to stay here because they help me be a better person,” he said.

As we celebrate Easter—a season of resurrection, renewal and new beginnings—Justin’s story is proof that transformation is possible, especially for those who feel lost or alone.