At 48, Faheem Martin started over.
Homeless and a drug addict, Faheem had hit the bottom. Even other addicts knew his life was in danger and took him to the Fulton Drug and Alcohol Center, where he spent 38 days in detox. Faheem was then sent to United Way-funded Trinity Community Ministries. There he was challenged to completely transform his life.
Faheem completed the Trinity House program, learning basic life skills, how to maintain a checking account and how to get a job. He worked at a factory where he was quickly promoted. But the plant closed, and Faheem faced a crisis again. Trinity House alumni helped him see that this was an opportunity to use all that he knew about drug life to become a counselor. He completed college study he had begun years before, and now Faheem works as a substance abuse counselor for the P.A.C.E.R. (Pre-treatment Addiction Counseling, Education and Referral) program at The Resource Opportunity Center (The ROCK). He also teaches classes on avoiding the risks of returning to drugs and living on the streets. Last year, Faheem helped more than 700 people get into pre-treatment programs.
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Living with his wife, Rhonda, in a house they own in Fayetteville, Faheem is now close to his grown son, to Rhonda's sons and daughter and to his grandchildren–something made impossible by his old life.
I said, 'How does a 48-year-old man change?'
They said, the harder the fall, the bigger the
bounce up if you're made of the right stuff.
—Faheem Martin
"Every time I want to slow down, I remember the last challenge Trinity House gave me when I left there—to whom much is given, much is required. I've got to try to help somebody else," Faheem said.
Helping end chronic homelessness, through the Commission on Homelessness, is just one of the ways United Way makes our community safer and stronger.
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