My name is Matt and I am a 2005 graduate of the ARCH house in Granite City, IL. I am grateful for the program that this particular facility runs because I feel like they helped save my life. This is why…. When I first came to the ARCH house I was pretty far from happy with my life and I could not stop using drugs. I felt as thought I did not have a friend in the world. I didn’t like myself at all.

After only a few days there I started making friends (which I still have today) and they made me feel like I may have a chance at something. I used the sessions with my counselors to work on me. I used the group sessions to work on me. After a while I was helping others and myself at the same time. I decided to stay in Granite City and find a home because the place I got clean was now home to me.

Today I am clean and working a program of recovery, which is something that I thought that I would never be doing a few years ago. I thank the ARCH House for the responsible and productive life that I live today. Without the help of the staff and other clients who worked a program, I feel that I would be dead or in prison today.

My name is James and I am 29 years old. I used methamphetamines for over 15 years. I had been in residential treatment programs three other times without being able to actually grasp the whole recovery concept. I have been in jails and institutions and very near death. The last time I went into treatment I was 100 lbs and 6’4" tall – not very healthy looking!

The center I went to taught me how to eat, sleep, and bathe, all of which I needed to relearn. I stayed there for 52 days. At this point I had finally stopped cheating myself and realized I had a chance. It was recommended I go to the ARCH House instead of going back home again to the same environment. The previous times in treatment, no matter how much I learned, when I returned home, I was getting high within 30 days.

At the ARCH House, they taught me all about the steps, sponsorship, the importance of a home group and going to meetings. It was a good place for the transition from residential treatment back into society. I had to get a job, save money, and pay rent! Both of these things I was not used to, or even having money for that matter!

I give credit to the ARCH House for saving my life. I got to start opening up on some "core issues" which have helped me to learn about why I acted the way I did. Learning about myself when I thought I knew me so very well was pretty weird. I still today have the same job I had at the ARCH House. It has been about one year since I’ve lived there and about 18 months since I first went into treatment. Thank you ARCH House! You truly saved my life!

My name is Jerry and I am 42 years old. I am a "low-bottom" addict. I used for 25 years of my life. The last 8 years of my using career I was reduced to the animal level. I lived under a bridge, prostituted myself, and lost the willingness to care for myself.

I checked myself into residential treatment after nine trips to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning. I spent the next 8 months in a 28 day treatment center and then transferred to a behavior modification center where I stayed for the next 7 months. I literally had to relearn everything about living.

After spending 15 months in a clinical setting, they were ready to turn me loose. It was suggested to me that I go to the ARCH House, a home for recovering addicts who needed help with transitioning back into life. At ARCH there were rules and obligations which were simple to understand, but not always easy to follow. During my stay at ARCH I was to get a job, find a sponsor, get a home group, work steps, and save money. I was to attend groups in the house and meet with my ARCH House appointed counselor a minimum of one hour a week.

I did all that was suggested due to a strong commitment from staff and the director of the ARCH House. Today, I have my life back. I still work for the same company I started with upon my arrival at the ARCH House. I am active in the NA program, with the same sponsor and home group. I have my own apartment that I share now with three other graduates of the ARCH House.

I learned at the ARCH about responsibility, commitment, and a renewed faith in humanity. None of this could have happened for me without the commitment from the ARCH House Program to offer transitional housing.