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The Extension helps men and women struggling with homelessness and addiction find the power within themselves to escape the chains of chemical dependency and learn to embrace a life without drugs and alcohol.
Daniel Branham grew up with strict parents, and when he turned 18 he realized that many of us do: we have freedom. Daniel decided to use his freedom and to start drinking and smoking marijuana. Marijuana was fine, but Daniel was interested in more. Cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy. You know, the hard stuff. He had been told his whole life how bad it all was, but this wasn’t bad, it was fun. Daniel’s girlfriend at the time had chronic back pain, so as the caring boyfriend he was, he found something for her too. They both got hooked on the painless bliss that opioids promise.
They seemed to be your average love birds. They got their own place, decided to get married, and soon learned they were pregnant. Any parent can tell you about the massive lifestyle change that comes with having a baby, and it was enough for Daniel and his wife to stop using heroin- at least for a while.
But the young family’s shot at a white-picket future didn’t last long. By the time their son turned 2, they were living in the car and shooting heroin again. Although a parent’s love can’t be dampened by drug use, no one wants to raise a toddler in the backseat, so they turned over custody of their son to Daniel’s mother. Daniel and his wife looked around at what was left. They found themselves childless, homeless, and desperate for a fix. Their decision? To go to a dealer and create a plan. They would keep an eye on his supply for him, and in return they would have a place to stay.
One day in his newfound position as stash guard, he was on an errand for his dealer when a police officer scanned his license plate, lighting up multiple warrants for parking tickets and subsequent failures to appear in court. Daniel was arrested and thrown into Wright Street Jail in Marietta, where he had no choice but to detox. Dazed, confused, and in and out of consciousness, he spent the following 14 days in a Douglas County jail.
After doing his time in jail in Marietta and Douglas County, Daniel was then transported to Atlanta City Jail to face the felonies and misdemeanors on his record. It was there that a glimmer of hope shone through, they would clear his charges if he agreed to treatment. Daniel realized by now he was ready to be clean, so he agreed. When he got out of jail, he went back to the trap house. He had a wife to take care of, and he planned to convince her to get clean with him. When he got there, Daniel’s phone rang. It was alum of The Extension, “He spoke to me like a real person.” It made Daniel think- maybe there was a way that he could do this. And when he was ready, it was the alumna who drove Daniel to The Extension for his admissions interview where he was accepted that day.
When he arrived, he was surrounded by people who knew what he was feeling and going through. He remembers his first Power Hour, and the palpable energy that rises when people transition from The Extension back into the world. The brotherhood he was beginning to understand was exemplified by the first two brothers he met in recovery and go through Power Hour, “they even came back to share with us their stories” of living sober. Talking with them made Daniel believed he could do this.
Fast forward to today, and his new life since his own transition. Daniel doesn’t crave or need alcohol and drugs anymore. He might think about them sometimes, but they no longer have power or purpose in his life. There are people who he can count on, and people who count on him. He knows just because he is living sober doesn’t mean that he won’t still make mistakes, but the difference lives in being able to take what he learned at The Extension and learn from it, not use from it. In the past he would have turned to heroin to self soothe, but now, he can face his problems head on. Daniel knows that drugs and alcohol are no longer solutions to his problems.
“Solution is key. The fact of the matter is in any situation in life, it’s easy to point out the problem, but to have a solution, to want a solution, or to accept a solution, is a completely different thing.”
Now, Daniel has a loving wife and kids who he gets to be a dad for. Although he doesn’t get to come back to The Extension often, Daniel says it’s important not just for the people going through recovery to know about it, but its important for everyone to hear the message of recovery. He spreads the message through his kids, as a baseball coach, and at his job. Daniel now uses gratitude as the lens for his life. It helps him filter through his emotions and approach them with care.
As any parent can attest to, everything comes back to his kids. He says he “tenth-steps” his kids all the time. Instead of telling his kids not to ”… do this or do that,” he comes alongside them and helps them find a solution. It’s been 6 years since his recovery journey started. Daniel knows that he’s been given a new life, and he never takes it for granted.