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i would say that BHJI comes across as uh
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opportunity and uh support which are you
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know two things in my personal case that
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I didn't really have when I was in that
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situation so on paper it's
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not something that you can really feel
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any connection with that's when you meet
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the people cuz they come in it's a
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personal experience they come in and
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meet you and they sort of explain what
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they do and it was a a way for me to
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help get back on my feet and to have
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somebody new in my corner somebody I
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could talk to somebody I could if I
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needed something be able to possibly
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have that happen where I otherwise
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wouldn't have at first like I had no
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communication when I got home so uh the
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first thing I gained access to was a
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phone and that was with immediiacy which
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helped in my situation i was on parole
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so I was able to call him it gave me
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access to the internet and the ability
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to start looking for jobs start
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connecting with people in my life um
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just that alone was big also I did not
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have pretty much anything but the
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clothes on my back actually right now
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the the hat that I'm wearing the jeans
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that I'm wearing the shirt and the
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wallet in my pocket and my phone all
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came from VHI so you know I'm still
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those things are still carrying with me
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now that I'm supporting myself and on my
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own i had known at least through word of
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mouth in there that um BHI was a place
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that was helpful you know there was a
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little bit of tentiveness because
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typically somebody in my situation it
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could be hard to connect with somebody
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from that type of program you know so it
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was it was I guess a little bit of
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nervousness um more just knowing that I
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was going to have somebody to connect
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with before I got out so it was
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definitely um something that I needed
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and something I was looking forward to
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bill is actually somebody that I
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personally like a lot we're interested
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in a lot of the same things and he's
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somebody I've stayed connected with even
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after leaving the program as it were but
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the experience has always been great um
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he come by and see me once a week and
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you know we we'd go and take a drive
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there was something I would need we
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would go and take care of it but even
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when there wasn't you know we would
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still spend some time just talking about
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things sort of updating on progress as
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we went see what's changed until it got
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to the point where I was working and
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starting to reinvolve myself in my own
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things they were there each step of the
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way the biggest thing is I guess is that
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it's a personal relationship like I can
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talk to him if I need to talk to him
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it's not you know a voicemail situation
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or a leave a text and hear back a couple
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days later you know he's there and he's
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supportive and he's got a lot of clients
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too so you know he still makes that work
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and that's a good thing i personally
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through them have have taken care of
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quite a few different things kind of
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getting back into certain hobbies as
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long as they're positive and you know as
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long as I was doing the things I had to
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do like there was uh a lot of different
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ways that we could go with that so I
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actually had talked to some people about
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it while I was in jail um you know
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people that have been in the same
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situation as me people that didn't
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really have a lot and uh it was already
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something that I pushed as a
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recommendation i had to look up what the
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anagram was BHJI what that meant so that
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I could tell people when they asked i
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have pointed people in their direction
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or told them to ask the case worker
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whoever about them because you know if
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there was like a key word I would hear
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like uh not having a license or wanting
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to go back to school or not having any
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clothes or not being able to connect
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with people any of those things you know
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I I would tell them to talk to them and
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try to get connected with these people
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because they will be there i had a lot
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of healthy hobbies before uh I dealt
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with addiction and my visits to jail
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things like reading uh actually me and
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Billy are both uh adult Lego builders so
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that was something that we were able to
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do so you know it's not just the things
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that we need on a day-to-day basis but
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things that'll help push us in a
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positive direction and away from the
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life that we were living i would
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definitely recommend trying to contact
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them while you're still incarcerated
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that's the easiest way to get in there
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when I got home I needed a lot of things
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as that time progressed I needed less
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and less as far as financial help the uh
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provisions that they're able to provide
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but as I got to the point where I didn't
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need it anymore he was still there those
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things don't go away and even as a
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graduate now I think we're almost 2
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months from the last time that we had
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done like a graduation from the program
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type of thing and me and him still have
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a relationship today so it's not just
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about what they can do for you but it's
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how they do it which is important to me
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and um I've gotten a friend out of this
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as well and that's that's a really
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positive thing you know anybody that's
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in there and has been on the street and
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has lost that support I recommend
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pushing towards recovery and positivity
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um I am almost 11 months through today
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uh this is the most time I have had as
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an addict my life has changed immensely
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in that short period of time anybody can
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do it no matter how much you've lost you
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know there are places like this that can
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help you get back on your feet you know
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you don't have to be alone just cuz your
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family's not there just cuz girlfriend's
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not there kids aren't there whatever the
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case may be there are means and ways to
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find support and you just have to know
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that they're there and you have to
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ask