RECOVERY FEATURE
MY STORY S T A R T S
H E R E by ROBERT MITCHELL
After suffering many years in the throes of addiction, this survivor is now where he belongs.
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ichael Vandenburgh likes to say he “belongs” at the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Providence, R.I. Someone recently challenged Michael and said he probably has just grown comfortable at The Salvation Army facility. But he was having none of it. “No,” Michael said. “I love being at The Salvation Army. I’m where I belong—among God’s people where all of us put our trust in Christ and grow.” Long before coming to the ARC in 2019, Michael belonged to the streets. He grew up in Westport, Mass., where he experimented at age 14 with alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and pills. “As soon as I picked them up, they consumed my life,” said Michael, who also later battled the demons of crack cocaine and heroin.
He went to jail in Massachusetts “quite a few times,” often for breaking and entering to support his drug habit. He estimated that he’s spent just under four years behind bars. “I’d run out of money, but I needed it to continue using drugs,” he explained. His last stint was nine months in a Rhode Island jail after being set up by a drug dealer, who asked him to go for a ride to Newport, R.I. The dealer had asked Michael to pass off some drugs. When police raided the car, he was implicated.
A new start While in jail, Michael remembers telling God, “I just can’t stop doing what I’m doing. I dug myself a hole I can’t get out of it. I need your help.” Homeless and with nowhere to turn upon
Volume 8 Number 1, 2022
