Charlie
 Charlie is a 31 year old man who is not new to the Kensington neighborhood or to St. Francis Inn. He has lived in the neighborhood and has been coming to the Inn since 1983. When Charlie was growing up he would often come for a meal with his mother and six brothers. His mother had asthma and was sickly most of his life. She died in 1996. He left school in the 9th grade from Kensington High School, and started working at odd jobs.
Charlie started using drugs in 1996 after his mom died, and got addicted very quickly. He stopped using in 2002 when he was sent to prison. He served a 14 month prison term for a drug charge and says this was a turning point in his life. He had a spiritual awaking experience and wanted to become clean and sober and live a better life. He became very determined that he wanted to stop using drugs and getting high. After he was released from prison he entered a 90 day drug treatment program, and this was followed by living in a half way house for 90 days.
 Today Charlie is dealing with his sobriety and trying to stay clean from drugs. He is doing this by working the recovery program. This includes attending meetings, working with a sponsor and following the twelve-steps. He is learning new ways to cope with life without getting high. The most challenging experience that he has had to cope with during his sobriety is dealing with the recent death of his brother Anthony.
Charlie has a job selling hotdogs from a street corner cart. Also, he has his own apartment. Charlie comes to the Inn sometimes to eat, but on Sundays he works as a volunteer. This is his way of giving back to the community and serving others. Charlie says that he is in a good space and feeling good these days because he is not using drugs and has everything that he needs.
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