John Preskitt of The River Source Team

As a member of The River Source team I work directly with the patients as a Behavioral Health Technician (BHT). My primary responsibilities are making sure patients are in a safe environment and providing them with solution-based feedback. Everyday I come to work with the mindset that if I can help at least one person work through their struggles with addiction and help them make entire day without picking up a drink or drug, then I am doing my job.

From being a recovery addict myself, I remember the last day of active addiction. I was sitting behind Wal-Mart in a tent that I stole, and at this point I had been homeless for about 4 years. In the tent that night was my wife (girlfriend at the time) and me, and as she was sleeping I sat up all night wondering how I had gotten to this place in my life. I had burned every bridge known to me: my family wanted nothing to do with me, my “so-called” friends were nowhere to be found, and life as I knew it was becoming too much. As I sat there looking at the stars I remember thinking that if this is what life is going to be like, then I do not want to live anymore. For the first time in my life I said out loud “God please do something with me because I am tired of living.”

As the sun came up and the heat started to set in, my wife woke up crying, and I asked her what was wrong. She stated to me “I cannot do this anymore, today I am getting off the streets, either with or without you.” Me, being the low self-pity jerk I was, laughed at her and said, “what do you think we have been trying to do for months?” After arguing for about an hour she left me, while I stayed sitting in the tent. To keep the story short, that day me and my amazing wife got off the streets and into treatment.

It has been over 2 years since that day and both me and my wife are still active in the recovery world. We have been through all kinds of things from deaths in the family, to getting married and having a beautiful son named Jeremiah. Although I was not able to attend The River Source for treatment, it was here to help me expand my meeting selection and allowed me to practice giving back by sponsoring here for the first year of my sobriety. Today I can say that I love life and want to be alive. I am grateful for everything that has happened in life, even the bad things, because without going through this life of mine I would not be where I am today.

A Little About Me…

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, and being around good people who want similar things in life. I love being in nature and my favorite outdoor activity is camping. On the weekends I spend my time teaching my son how to play catch, ride a bike, and swim. I enjoy being able to take my wife out to the movies and dinner, so we can spend time with each other.