Gene and Sal with another volunteer

I met my first mentee, Sal, at the Florence Prison during late spring of 2001. During the mentoring period at the prison, I found that Sal loved the Lord fully and enthusiastically participated in the program. He told me he was confident his problems with drugs were a thing of the past. He also told me about the lack of caring by his father, a commercial airline pilot living in Connecticut. His father left the family when Sal was 4 years old. Sal hasn't ever seen his dad again, despite his dad calling and saying he was in town… but he never showed. I didn't fully appreciate the impact this had on Sal's life.

Sal was released from prison in January of 2002. I picked him up on a Sunday morning expecting this would be one of the happiest days of Sal's life. I was very excited for him. I was amazed, however, to find that Sal was terrorized about being a free man on the outside. I took him to his first halfway house, Stepping Stone. This didn't work out very well as Sal was back on drugs in four days. He failed a drug test, but a kind Parole Officer gave him a second chance. However, by early March Sal failed another test and it was back to Florence.

Sal was released again toward the end of April of 2002 to Sunburst Halfway House. Sunburst had an excellent reputation and was quite strict. Sal seemed to do well at Sunburst until a fire closed the facility. He was transferred to a second Sunburst facility that didn't work out very well for him. Along Side Ministries helped Sal get admitted to a drug rehab facility called Maverick House. He was thrown out of this program and it was back to prison to serve out his sentence.

On his release in late October of 2002, Sal got a good job, but he continued to use drugs and he wasn't walking with the Lord. Soon thereafter he hit bottom. Sal heard about Teen Challenge, which is a very structured recovery program. Teen Challenge was the perfect place for Sal. He has completed the program and is now working there as an intern in public relations. He is looking for the Lord's direction about going to seminary.

My wife, Pat, and I have remained good friends with Sal. He stumbled many times, but he, with the help of the Lord, never gave up. And, seeing that Sal wasn't going to give up, neither would I. Sal's earthly father deserted him, so I was not going to let him down.

Working with Sal and Along Side Ministries has been a life changing experience. As a young boy I learned how rewarding it is to help someone in need. After turning my life over to Jesus Christ, I was haunted by what I read in the gospel of Matthew (25:36) "I was in prison and you came to visit me." My wife and I have not been blessed with children, so mentoring has had a special meaning to me. This is particularly true in the case of Sal who really never had an earthly father.