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How I Got Back on Track
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How one person was impacted by Colel Chabad's Food Security Program.
Categories:Torah/Chassidus
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
[Music]
first of all i'm nervous
i'm a human being first and foremost
then i'm a father and a husband
then a rehabilitated addict
five years
four months and five days
you asked what i was like as a youth
at certain points i was introverted and
shy and insecure
but then i was pretending to be a
hoodlum you could say
i first went to prison when i was 18.
i served six more terms
i spent almost 10 years in jail
i lived to use drugs and i use drugs to
live
i do anything to get it fixed
and the end justifies the means as they
say
so i'd stop at nothing
and they pay the price
just a look would make me explode
let alone the world
at first the government tried to help me
through the juvenile service but then
they lost faith
[Music]
my release date approaches
all i can think about is how to regain
all the years i lost
how to make some easy money and how to
keep using drugs to cover up all the
emotions
and feelings and emptiness and
loneliness
and lack of self-esteem and insecurity
and my terrible self-image
in between i tried rehab through all
sorts of therapeutic groups but they
didn't work
[Music]
i remember the very first moment my son
was with the foster family since he was
about half a year old
his mother was in prison too
the welfare bureau decided to put him up
for adoption and they brought him to
jail to say goodbye to me
they told them it was the last visit and
they were putting him up for adoption
and he came with a forced smile
just to show he wasn't afraid
[Music]
that's it
i'll do everything i have to do for him
from now on
i finished a rehab process for almost a
year and a half
in a hostel and i had to rent an
apartment for myself
at the same time i got the verdict
300 hours of community service
[Music]
and i asked my social worker for help
and one way she helped was through the
initiative of food security
a cow a box of vegetables a box of fruit
and a box of dried goods rice sugar
and that's how it began
as someone who wanted to strike a new
path the initiative gave me an
opportunity
an outstretched hand a push
a feeling that i'm not alone
four years on i married again
before this i was a single father
i worked as a counselor with high
high-risk young men and women addicts
for almost four years now
these young men and women come from the
lowest darkest places which society
doesn't see
[Music]
they are our invisibles
[Music]
i work with them every day from morning
to night
and i see these young men and women who
want something else they want a
different life without drugs
they want to live and enjoy life not
just to survive
they leave prison without id cards
without bus passes
without hm workouts
unable to communicate or cope
with no routine
no hygiene
the most basic things
and you have to teach them like little
kids
once a week we go out and do volunteer
work to give to society
we go to the pantry packer plant to pack
food
with music and a pleasant atmosphere
and we all have one aim
to give
we receive a warm welcome a smile and a
kind world and an opportunity and trust
me the initiative grants us
it opens the door for us
it gives us a chance to show that we
aren't who society thinks we are
these kids really want to give
and they're sensitive and tender
and this is exactly what they need
a kind world
war and love and trust and mainly an
opportunity
to know that they are not monsters we go
out and give to others
i can only hold on to what i have by
giving to others
[Music]
our young men and women need someone who
believe in them
help them
i can't imagine being anywhere else
i'm doing what i love
and the feedback i receive shows that
i'm good at what i
[Music]
this do has helped me
it helped me live
on the day were born god decided that
the world can't exist without you
and that's exactly how it is
being a significant part of the lives of
others being part of the lives of others
[Music]