As the need for Street Outreach rises in our community, we’ve hired new staff to help meet that need. David is one of our newest staff members and we’re excited to introduce you! David joined our Street Outreach team in October of 2024, and the timing couldn’t have been better as we completed 150 assessments on individuals facing street level homelessness in the month of December alone!
David was introduced to New Visions by Willie Austin, one of our Drug and Alcohol Counselors at our Omaha Veteran’s Campus, and Willie also happens to be David’s sponsor through Alcoholics Anonymous. David credits Willie with helping to save his own life through walking with him in his recovery, and now David gets to save the lives of others through his work in Street Outreach. In addition to his addiction, David has faced a lifetime of trauma including prison, violence, and broken relationships. But during all of this, David always felt that his trauma could be used for good. “Even in the midst of my addiction,” he says, “I would hear this voice of God, saying, ‘What are you doing? You should be helping these people, you have the ability to help them.’ God has put me into a position to use all of the things that were shameful and to turn them into something positive.”
Some of David’s favorite things in life include travel, movies, motorcycles, and soccer (he was even asked to play for the Olympic soccer team back in 1985!) He continues to enjoy his recovery meetings and says that they are a part of his ongoing journey of self-care. He’s proud of his son, who’s working on his Master’s Degree, who he has a close bond with. He’s also proud to have worked through many other painful relationships that are now in a better place.
Loving, persistent, and an overcomer, David brings these and so many other skills to his role as a Street Outreach Advocate. “God is amazing,” he says, “I don’t deserve what I’ve been given. I’ve done a lot of bad things, and that’s what helps me in my job. I know sometimes people need more than one, two, or three chances because that’s what I needed.” Today, David doesn’t take anything for granted and feels incredibly blessed. Like David, we at New Visions feel so very blessed that David has overcome so much in his life and that he’s now working to help others in so many ways.
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