THE opportunity for young men to turn their lives around and break long-term drug habits is both hard to find and also hard for those under the spell of drugs to commit to.
Numerous organisations offer new hope with rehabilitation programs and one of the most successful has been Transformations which was founded on the Gold Coast by former drug addict Michael Barrett.
Being set free from long term addiction himself, Michael had a dream in his heart to use his own experience and knowledge to help his fellow addicts find real freedom.
Starting with a small halfway house in Surfers Paradise Michael began the journey of creating a safe space for addicts to find love, purpose, and hope.
Over the next 10 years Transformations developed a holistic, evidence based program with the capacity to turn broken lives around breaking the cycle of addiction for good.
Now their journey has reached Ipswich and by the end of the month they will be operating a residence in Camira that will host around 10 residents undertaking a year-long transformation program.
Similar homes currently operate in Cowra, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Hobart and Melbourne.
The home will feature a live-in residence leader and a campus director to oversee the program and help support those attempting to break the cycle of addiction to go on to live healthy purpose-filled lives.
Disability and Youth worker, Daryl Ross has been working towards having a Transformation residence in the Ipswich region for the past four years and he has been appointed at the first campus director.
“Both my wife and I battled addictions for 15 years when we lived in NSW and it got to the point where she went to jail and I was alone to look after our three children,” Daryl said.
“I was at the lowest point in my life and I needed help and I reached out and thankfully found it with my local church.
“Their love and understanding gave me a new beginning which 10 years ago saw me pack up the family and move to Springfield,” he said.
“Now it is my turn to show love and support to young men who are experiencing the dark side of drug abuse as I did.
Daryl Ross
“The Springfield Christian Family Church is backing the local program along with support from other church groups and we welcome more churches and sponsors to join us,” he said.
Transformations will only have a small group in their Ipswich home when it opens hopefully in a few weeks time.
If anyone would like to help change a young person’s life please give me Daryl a call on 0487 894 701
