Lees Story
My name is Lee Connell. I came to CARE Tallahassee August 4th, 2014 after a long history of drugs, alcohol and broken relationships. After leaving home at 17, I drifted from town to town seeking employment and places to stay with whoever I could. I could never hold a job or any length of time due to my use of drugs and partying. In 1998, I was sentenced to 10 years prison in the State of Alabama. When I reached the end of my sentence on July 4th 2003, I went back home for a brief period and took a bus to Seattle to work in the seafood industry. That did not work. Another job agreed to accept me so I bussed to St. Petersburg Florida where I worked at a car wash and began using drugs again. I knew that I had to leave this area, so I found CARE Tallahassee on the internet.
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After a phone call, CARE agreed to accept me so I came to Tallahassee by bus. Upon arriving at CARE, I realized that the program was very intense and required a lot of participation at church. After attending church for a while, God touched my heart and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Shortly after my salvation, I was baptized and began my journey as a Christian. I contacted my parents and told them about how I had changed. Both parents did not believe me, since my history with them was not good at all. After months of good reports from CARE, they began believing that there may be a glimmer of hope. They came down and visited me and I have had opportunities to visit them in Alabama. Currently, we are enjoying a great family relationship through our bond with Jesus Christ. During my journey, I was tempted to go back to my old friends and party with the drugs and alcohol. My new Christian friends at CARE prayed with me and encouraged me to stay the course of my faith. Through much prayer, I had the strength to delete those old phone numbers and pictures of all my previous contacts and have not looked back since. I was assigned the responsibility of chief cook at CARE in 2015, Now its 2021 and I currently hold the Assistance Manager position. There is no doubt that God and CARE changed my life and I realize that if this had not happened, I would not be alive today.