I have been a drug addict and alcoholic most of my adult life.  Married twice and the father of eight children – six girls and two boys.  I’ve also been a criminal most of my adult life.

I guess I started doing drugs at an early age - around 14 years old I had my first joint and my first drink.

From that point on, drugs and alcohol would control most of my life. I dropped out of school in the 9th Grade, but still managed to get a GED while I was in prison. There were times I couldn’t keep jobs and destroyed every relationship I ever had.

When I was 18, I joined the military, only to be kicked out a year later because of my drug use.  However, I did manage to get an honorable discharge for which I am grateful today.  A year later, I was arrested and convicted for armed robbery and possession of a controlled substance.  I was sentenced to 25 years in prison.  The next 6 years and 8 months were spent in prison before being paroled.

In prison I was introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, but used it for a meeting place to buy and sell drugs.  While in prison I became a member of the Gangster Disciple Street Gang and used my contacts once I was paroled to buy and sell drugs.

Back to prison I went on parole violation, spending another 18 months in incarceration before being paroled again in 1986.  In 1987, I went to my first treatment center, where I met my first wife.  She was my counselor.  For five years we stayed married and I managed to keep my drug addiction to a minimum, but by the end of the fifth year my addiction was again out of control. My wife divorced me and I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where I spent the next five years in and out of treatment centers and homeless on the streets of Nashville.

In 1999, I married my second wife.  For the first eighteen months I was clean and sober, but dropped out of the program, relapsed, and was back on the streets once again.

On February 14, 2002 I was arrested and convicted of possession for re-sale of cocaine.  The next thirty seven months were spent in prison – the third time in my life.  While in prison I got involved in the Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous programs.  For the first time in my life I became serious about my recovery and where my life was going.

I decided on that day to change my life.  I stopped doing drugs and drinking alcohol on February 14, 2002.

There is a lot I haven’t shared here in my story, but I hope that what I have shared will help or inspire someone to want to make a change in their life.  I especially thank Janell Brown and Wendy Kaufman at Dismas for allowing me the chance to be a real part of the Dismas family.  I have learned what it means to give of yourself and not to expect anything in return.  It’s a great feeling.

At present I’m doing service work in the community and making amends to those I’ve hurt along the way.  I ask that whoever reads this will pray for me and my family and I’ll do the same for all my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ray A. Barnes.