Our Alumni Want to tell you Their Experience at Our Houses

November 6, 2024

My name is Johnny and I was a resident at the King's sober living for 5 months first off want say my hat is off to these ppl that run it working with addicts isnt easy and helping them pull their lives together is even harder.As to my experience there went into not knowing what to expect but thought was going be something like a jail or something i've never been to a sober living house before.Was really surprised when I got there jail was the farthest thing from what it was.The house was huge clean environment the residents and staff were kind and inviting.So started off blown away from the beginning and only got better.As a suffering addict trying get clean for the first time, had no idea of how to do it or how to fellowship.Was guided on where to find meetings,what recovery actually was,encouraged to find and work a program in fellowship,work steps,find sponsor giving tools and resources to utilize during getting clean and starting my program.Those are just few things another was being held accountable to being sober through ua testing and such along with weekly house meeting to make sure place was running smoothly.Also while there saw them help ppl find work figure out how to get and what ppl needed get ids foodstamps whatever nobody went hungry regardless of your situation wasnt free ride but lead to resources and such .Basically all the building blocks needed to get your life together were available there to all as long as you put on the work and were clean and sober.Like i said was there 5 months and was able to manage from not knowing what I was going to do to now having secure job place to live and real chance at life and not sure would be where i'm at without King's house and staff there.So guess this is as much a thank you letter to ppl who helped me pull life together as a support letter for King's house

 

           Johnny D.

Thompson House / Queens House


I entered Myrna’s sober living home the day I got released from prison. I was able to parole to her woman’s house. The overwhelming feeling going back into society after 3 years in prison was automatically washed away once I entered the home. Myrna and all of the girls were very welcoming and understanding. It was a family feeling. We went to meetings together, had activities with one another and was held accountable for taking care of our responsibilities within the home and outside.
A second woman’s home was opened up a few weeks after and I was able to be the house president of the new home. All of this gave me a sense of purpose and love. Holidays with each other, meetings, dinners and so much more.
The transition from prison to the Oxford house was seamless. We were treated with respect and love. Going into the home saved my life and was a stepping stone back into society. I was able to get back into my families lives, they were able to trust me again with all the work I put in with the tools I learned from being in the home. Got great job as a case worker in a treatment facility and was able to help others.
Truly blessed to have the opportunity to be one of Mrynas girls.
Regards,
Kerri Sautter

Queens House

December 2024

To Whom It May Concern, 

I am incredibly grateful for my time at the Kings and Queen's Sober Living House in 2012. Before entering the house, I had been battling a 20-year addiction, living a life of degradation and hopelessness. The experience of being there was truly transformative. The guidance and support I received not only helped me overcome my addiction but also taught me how to reintegrate into society with dignity and purpose.

Thanks to the structure and care provided at the sober living house, I found the strength to rebuild my life. Today, I am proud to say I have been clean for 12 years, and I know, without a doubt, that this would not have been possible without the solid foundation and lessons I gained during my time there. The Kings and Queen's Sober Living House gave me the opportunity to reclaim my life, and for that, I will always be deeply thankful.

Queens House Manager 2022 - 2025

Sunny P

My name is Sunny and I am 56 years old.  In December 2024 I will have 9 years clean. I started out my journey staying with friends then renting rooms then getting my own apartment which I shared with my daughter who was in her active addiction. Needless to say I had to let her go and after 3 years of living on my own I got really depressed even though I was going to meetings and working a program of recovery. This was during covid and being isolated from the rest of the world took its toll, so badly I tried to commit suicide. Myrna was my sponsor and convinced me to move into her house on Churchill. There were 9 girls there at the time and they put me in the room with 4 beds. 2 bunk beds - I got a bottom bunk which scared me because I am bipolar and I thought, “I can’t do this”. I am going to go crazier, but they welcomed me, loved me and fed me! The house was full of love and structure which I thrive on and need to cope with my mentality.  I got to work closely with my sponsor, I was waiting for disability so I had to do community service which got me closer to the community. I got to go to the rescue mission and feed the homeless. We are a women and childrens house so I babysat for a mother in the house while she worked until she found childcare. Then came the day when I got a job. Yes I went to work after all these years. I worked 6 months as a caregiver and my current job at Einstein Bagels. I have been there 2 ½ years. We have moved houses and I have moved with. I love being here so much. I am now the house manager and have been here 5 years. I love helping the woman come in and get clean and start a new way of life. We have one other woman who’s been here 3 years. The rest have gotten jobs and got their own places and grown up and moved on. Some sadly didn’t make it. But I get to be here - to be here for them all. Like Myrna and DeAnna , Paulie and Denis and the others who were here before me. 

Kings House

February 2025

To Whom It May Concern,

     My name is Byron T and I am currently the house manager of the King's House sober living in Las Vegas, NV. The house has helped me in so many ways. First, it was a necessary step in the rebuilding of my life on the firm foundation of sobriety. I participated in the LightHouse Recovery Program at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission June 2024 to January 2025 where I gained freedom from drugs and alcohol. In order to maintain my sobriety I knew it was necessary for me to find a structured home where accountability and comradery would still be a part of my life. This is where the King's House has become an important part of my life. It gave me the flexibility and patience that I needed coming out of rehab with no identity, job, or finances. I have been in the house for about seven weeks now and it is safe to say that without it |I would not have been able to achieve the goals I had set forth in treatment. Since I have been in the house I have maintained sobriety, gained a solid support group, gained steady employment in a career that I love, and became the house manager, where I get to support and help the other men living in the house to achieve their goals. Thank you very much for your time, and may God bless you!

                                                                                                           Very Respectfully,

                                                                                                            Byron T

Thompson House

January 2025

To whom it may concern

I'm writing this to show my support to an amazing organization that I owe my life to. I will be forever grateful for Miss Myrna Winslow who not only gave me support and a place to live in her clean and sober housing. When I was newly released from jail and during covid when other houses were limiting their admittance. But Miss Myrna also had a long-standing rule where if you were coming from jail or a drug rehabilitation or hospital she would let you come in and get yourself together without making you pay any upfront fees and just a promise to pay and a promise to become productive as soon as you can . Because of that generosity and her organization's love for the newcomer. I have over 4 years clean and sober. And because of her organization's help at the beginning of my recovery journey I am now able to pay it forward and help other newly sober individuals through my work as a Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist. I often think where I may have ended up if I didn't start my recovery journey at Myrna's house. I truly believe that I would not be here if I did not get my start there. Once again I'd like to thank DeAnna and Denis for continuing this vital work that is needed in our community and continuing the legacy and vision of a remarkable woman Myrna Winslow. 

Anthony Germaine Smith

Thompson House/Kings House

February 2025

This house gave me a great start in my journey of recovery. My name is Jeff Kampa and I now have 8 years 2 months clean. I started my journey in drug court and freedom house, after my grant was up there the kings house took me in. I stayed there from 1 year clean to almost 2 and 1/2 years clean. It gave me a good foundation to start my journey by showing me how to be responsible and productive member of society. The house also showed me how to get along with many different kinds of people and personalities. Thanks to the leadons that I learned by being a house manager at the house I no have a great career,family and own my own home. I still give back today by helping out at the house as a house advisor to help the next person out. I say thank you Kings house for teaching me how to live life without the use of any mind altering substances and giving me a life I never thought I deserved.   

                                     Thank You

                                    Jeff K

Kings House

February 2025

Living at the king house has helped me in mays ways it has given me a place to call home and most importantly it has helped with my sobriety I am very thankful for DeAnna and everyone else for their patience and understanding while I work to get my life back on track.

 Sincerely, Chad B

Queens House

February 2024 - 2025

TO WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN:

I am Jazzmen G. A resident of Aids to Alcoholics and Addicts, Queens House. This is my testimony.

In my active addiction, I was the last one to know that I had a problem. I was the last to know that I was a full-blown drug addict. I started using at the age of 14 years old. Forget the weed and alcohol. I used meth for the first time in a high school bathroom because I needed to fit in somewhere.

At this stage in my life, I was in foster care and not my first one. I had been tossed around from home to home, group home to group home, even spent some time behind bars in YA because no one wanted me...unless it was sexually. I had been getting raped and molested from 7-16 years old. I believed I was a lesbian for a long time, and that was hard because being gay was not something to be open about. It was something you did after the after party. So, I used. I needed connection. When I could not feel it anymore from convincing girls my age to have sex with me, or even being rejected, I turned to gang life. I found my home. 

It was girls, drugs, and guns. The lifestyle caught me three years prison time in CIW in California. I had just turned 18 years old. I did my time. Got out and somehow decided to have sex with some guy who I knew in high school. Yes, we were using. Yes, I got pregnant months later and gave birth to my eldest daughter. After, I gave birth to my daughter, he eventually became my husband. I stopped using hard drugs but still smoked weed and drank. Eventually, it led back to meth and heroin. Again, 3 years after we were wed, I was pregnant with our second daughter.

By this time, I had already had DCFS on my back. They took my oldest and while I was pregnant with my youngest, that was February 10, 2020. 9 months later, 3 days after birthing my youngest child, that would have been on December 29, 2020. They took her from me in the hospital. She was born positive for meth amphetamine. A few short months after, my father died on January 14, 2021. I was 26 years old. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. My addiction became drastically worse. I started shooting up meth. I was smoking inhumane quantities of fentanyl, and slamming heroin when i could not manage to get fetty. I lost it all. The marriage, long gone. I couldn't pull myself together for my girls. Hell, i was getting high to try to die. Hoping, that this fet would be stronger than the last batch. I overdosed 18 times. I told myself, "I will build a tolerance eventually". Which, I did. It seems to be the only successful thing I was able to do loaded.

One day, I came to Vegas to get a break from the chaos I knew as Los Angeles. That led to an almost fatal car crash. I was left alone in the hospital without the people I came with. In a state I had never been. Alone, Thank God.

It was in that moment; I had my first clear though since I had lost my kids to DCFS. I thought, "This is bad. I need help". I went on a zoom meeting and did just that. The next morning, I was picked up at a 7 Eleven and was brought to Queens House. I never looked back and never used since. 

My clean date is 12.29.23. I have one year, one month, and 13 days clean as I write this to you. This house has brought me back to life. I have a relationship with my kids and am present in their lives and financially responsible for regardless of the distance. I have a sponsor and a Sponsee. Today I have a job that I just got a promotion in because I know how to be responsible today. I hold a title in our house as the House President. I am trusted to react to all these different personalities, help come to spiritual solutions, and help this house run in a way to promote recovery and spiritual growth. This addict is trusted and for that I am truly grateful. These are gifts I get to have because Deanna Howlett took a chance on a hopeless dope addict like me. I am honored to know her. I am honored to be a resident of this house hold and it is an honor to be able to give you my testimony on behalf of this life changing program.

Thank you for a second opportunity at life. More importantly; thank you for asking me to be of service.

With gratitude,

Jazzmen G, House President 2025

© Copyright. All rights reserved.

We need your consent to load the translations

We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.