Victor Gray

Victor is in long-term recovery thanks to multiple opportunities in Prop. 36 treatment. He has not used drugs or alcohol since October 2004 and was discharged from parole in early 2006—after being on probation or parole since 1989! Here’s what he has to say:

I am now a very successful businessman. I’m a proud father of 4 boys and one girl, who, by the way, was born on my one-year clean date (in October 2005). I owe my life to Prop. 36 and all the wonderful counselors. If it wasn’t for one counselor by the name of Kim L. believing in me and for seeing something in me that I couldn’t see myself, I would not be sharing my story today. She saved my life. I believe that God will keep this program alive and with God for us who can be against us? No one can! Thank you very much to all the supporters of Prop. 36. May God bless you even if you do not believe in him. He is there for all of us and he will be here for the budget on Prop 36.

My addiction started at a very young age, when I was growing up in Del Paso Heights. My father died when I was 10 and I grew up in a sick home with a very sick step dad. People and family members used to say that I never had a chance. I like to say that I had a choice. I spent most of my life using anything I could put in a spoon, roll in a blunt wrap or drink out of a bottle. In the process of my drug addictions, I managed to spent most of my life in prison. See, I brought into the lie at a very young age that it was my destiny to live the way I was living my life.

I never knew that there was treatment for my addictions till I got Prop. 36. I came into the program in 2002, but did not last long and I went back to prison. I got out a year later and re-entered the Prop. 36 program after turning in a dirty to my parole officer.

At that time in my life, I knew I wanted to stop using but didn’t know how. Just one group and one one-on-one meeting a week was not working for me. I needed something more than what I was getting. That’s when I went into a residential treatment called A-House. I still struggled and after 58 days of being there I left. It wasn’t till 3 days later that I realized that I had hit my bottom. I was allowed to return to A-house after 19 days only to get kicked out after 60 days. That didn’t have to be a bad thing. In that 60 days I had gotten everything I needed. I found out who God was, I got a support group and much, much more. I went back into outpatient and graduated with flying colors.