Cameron Clark shouldn’t be here. His story is one of second chances.
“I have no doubt that I would be dead, I really do, without St. Vincent,” said Clark, 55 years old. “St. Vincent literally saved my life … I was trying on my own, which is not easy for an addict to get clean.”
In 2006, Clark’s life came crashing down. While he was working at Publishers Printing, his feet started to hurt. A friend offered him some Lortabs, which is a light opioid used to relieve pain.
“Like most people for pain, I was not prescribed them, but when I took the pain pills, they took the pain away. For an opiate addict, it makes us feel great. It’s not real, but it’s false sense of energy and happiness,” Clark added. “It didn’t take long from there. I was off to the races. I didn’t see what I was doing.”
He progressed to hydrocodone, Percocet, and heroine as his drugs of choice. It didn’t take long for opiates to touch every part of his life. He lost his job. He lost his wife. He lost his home. Prior to that, he “had it all.” Several years into his struggle with drugs, he became homeless.
“The worst thing about being an addict is that we don’t see it until we hit rock bottom,” he said. “The first time I checked into a local shelter, it was a very lonely feeling … it started setting in what was going on. It wasn’t a good feeling at all. It felt like I was completely alone. It’s a scary feeling.”
A Louisville native, Clark said that nobody wanted to be around him. His twelve-year battle with addiction took a toll on family and friends physically, emotionally, and financially. During his stay at local shelters, he was surrounded by stress 24/7.
“There were fights breaking out, people getting stabbed, police would be there two to three times a day,” Clark said. “When I became homeless, you had to learn certain things, like where to go when it got cold, where to go eat, and where to do my laundry. I still worry about clean clothes.”
The Road to Recovery
In 2018, Clark was told about St. Vincent de Paul’s Ozanam Inn Men’s Emergency Shelter.
“Everyone tries to get into St. Vincent because it’s by far the best shelter in Louisville,” Clark added. “It’s cleaner. Staff help with housing. It’s just overall nicer. We each have a small chore … there was no structure in the other shelters.”
After checking into SVDP, it wasn’t a clean path forward. Clark was hired onto SVDP’s maintenance team, but it was to supply his habit.
“The earth shattered,” he said. “It was a Friday. It was payday … I ran into a former heroine dealer. It had been two to three weeks since I did anything. I got back to Ozanam Inn, did heroine, and that’s all I remember.”
After a fourteen-day detox at a local treatment facility, it would be the last time Clark did drugs. SVDP gave him a second chance.
“There are a lot of great people on that campus—staff and clients,” Clark said. “I began waking up with tears of joy. I started taking a lot of pride in everything. Somewhere along the line I lost faith in everything, especially in myself.”
From the Shelter to the Store
It was the break that Clark needed. He remembers his sobriety date like the back of his hand, as if it’s a holiday or birthday—June 25, 2018. He’s made amends with his ex-wife and has spent valuable time with his teenage daughter.
“I wanted to believe in God, but I couldn’t until certain things started sliding into place,” Clark said. “I haven’t even thought about drugs because things were just going too well.”
For the next several years, Clark worked on the maintenance team and was also the Thrift Stores Driver for the Warehouse. He enjoyed his interactions with customers in the store or while picking up donations.
Clark felt right at home on SVDP’s Shelby Park campus.
“There’s something special about that block [SVPD campus] to me. It’s a very spiritual place for me. To tell you the truth, I think God smiles on that block,” Clark said.
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