Success Stories
Serving God by Serving You
Abby (born Albert) Woods was the ninth of eleven children. He visited his first dope house at 14 and became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Each day became the same “some alcohol to get the hanks off” he says, “‘til I could score”. He would meet with his friends, figure out the hustle for the day, and get high. His first brush with the law came at about age eighteen and from then on he says “I gave fifteen years of my life to the penal system.” Abby’s life changing journey with recovery came in the form of the Community Alternatives Program. The alternative was rehabilitation instead of incarceration. He knew something was going to be different because “CAP was not a program that gives you, it allows you.” Abby was allowed to attend A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) and N.A. (Narcotic Anonymous) meetings along with counseling and group sessions. It was there that he learned the meaning of love and the responsibilities that come along with it. “When I was in my madness,” he confesses, “I had no knowledge of the lord.” Now he says, “I’m damaged but delivered.” Abby says that his life could not be much better than it is right now. “I’m a better husband, a better father and I enjoy the fruits of my labor.”
Abby’s story appears in 40 Stories of Courage and Hope: Celebrating 40 Years of Project Rehab, which was published in Fall 2008 in recognition of Project Rehab’s 40th anniversary. Click here to read more stories about our courageous clients and the treatment pioneers who helped make recovery possible.
This story is sponsored by Carol Kooistra in memory of "Dr. Bill", cofounder of Project Rehab