Kyle’s hope story: A recipe for new life

Drugs and alcohol almost ruined his life, but he received a chance to start over.

Kyle was 10 years old when his parents divorced, and after that, he grew up in a house full of women — “Me, my mother, my sister and my grandmother,” he says. Though he missed the influence of a father figure, he picked up on something else — a love of cooking.  

He spent hours in the kitchen with his grandmother, learning culinary skills. Some of his happiest holiday memories took place at his grandmother’s. “She cooked for the family,” Kyle says. “She did cookouts. She cooked for the church. I helped her.” He loved cooking so much that he dreamed of going to culinary school. “Cooking is a passion for me…It’s like an art form.” 

But that dream fell apart as Kyle’s life fell apart. He listened to the wrong people, fell in with the wrong crowd and tried drugs. Sadly, it grew into an addiction and dealing. “I had to stop,” he says. 

That was 22 years ago. Kyle, now 55, did indeed quit using drugs. The problem was that he then used alcohol as a crutch to help. That also took its toll over time. As the years passed, it cost him a long-term relationship. It cost him a job. It cost him his health; he had a stroke and a few heart attacks. 

Determined to get back on his feet, Kyle went to rehab and sobered up. Then he went to a nearby hospital for his health issues. Thankfully, his health stabilized. Unfortunately, his savings were gone, and he had no place to go. That’s when the hospital recommended The Bowery Mission. 

“And I’ve been here ever since,” Kyle says with a heart full of gratitude. He first came to our emergency shelter in the dead of winter and then joined our Residential Program for Men.

Focusing on his priorities

A good student in his childhood, Kyle loved learning, and he sees his time at the Mission as a sort of continuing education. He always knew what he wanted to do, but just needed an opportunity to do it. He explains, “I’m here to restart.” 

Kyle says the Mission has helped him refocus his life and priorities. And his time here has rekindled an old dream. Bowery Mission staff encouraged him to apply to a local culinary program, where he was one of only 15 people out of 300 applicants accepted! He excelled in the program, and a position was created for him at a local barbecue restaurant, where he is now the pitmaster prep butcher, which brings back happy memories of working in his grandmother’s kitchen. 

He also helps out in the Mission kitchen, where he became good friends with one of the kitchen leaders. Kyle wants to pursue more culinary training and someday hopes to open his own restaurant. In the meantime, he’s planning to get a place with a friend he made at the Mission. He’s eager to live independently — and soberly — again. To Kyle, this is all just the beginning. He says The Bowery Mission has helped him get to this point. And he’s grateful.

“The Bowery Mission is greatly needed. It’s here for you if you want to make something of yourself.” — Kyle