VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — From a troubled past to a bright future.
"Failure seemed to be something that I was accustomed to. I wasn't comfortable with success," said Michael Devon Alston with The Salvation Army. "I had been shot at... threats [on] my life... I started to steal and rob and take stuff from people."
Alston said he started experiencing trauma and trials when he was just a baby. "My parents left me in a bootlegger's house- a place that sells alcohol illegally. I was about three months old," Alston said. "I was picked on a lot. I was bullied a lot."
He said his childhood was also marred by sexual abuse. Searching for ways to cope with these issues, Alston turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age. "At nine years old, I was introduced to beer. I liked it. At 10 years old, I was introduced to marijuana. I liked it. And when I turned 12 years old, I snorted cocaine for the first time. And I fell in love with it," Alston said. "I [wound] up selling drugs by the time I got in high school, junior high."
Alston later dropped out of school and abused drugs for more than 30 years. He spent time in jail, went through a divorce, and was losing control of his life.
Then, he said he was given a second chance.
"In 2016, broke... homeless by choice... I found The Salvation Army," Alston said.
He said he never planned to stay longer than the six months it took to graduate from their Adult Rehabilitation Center's program, "but when I got here, something changed and something happened. And it's still happening today," Alston said. "I have no reason to look back, unless I'm looking back to help someone else."
Now, Alston has a whole new outlook on life- accomplishing his goals of writing, ministry, modeling, music, and acting. He even landed a small role on the television series "Homeland."
But he said most importantly, he's now a proud soldier of The Salvation Army and able to help others like him find their way. "I think that when you've been through a lot and you've hurt a lot, you want to help a lot," Alston said. "It's so much bigger here than just recovery from drugs and alcohol, because The Salvation Army has tools in place to help your life get put back together.
If you or someone you know needs helping fighting drug addiction or substance abuse, contact The Salvation Army.