Malcolm never thought he was “conforming” to the world. Where he grew up, the worst thing you could be called was “normal.” Normal meant boring or square. Normal meant being like everyone else in society, working 9 to 5, going nowhere, being nobody. “I wanted no part of that life,” he says. “I wanted to be something special. And in my neighborhood, special meant fast cars, flashy jewelry—and selling drugs.”

From the age of 16, that was Malcolm’s life. “I conformed, but I conformed to my world,” he says. “And I really believed I was something special.”

For 10 years, Malcolm got lost in a cocaine addiction. “Thing is, I didn’t know how to cope with ‘normal,’” he recalls. “I tried to keep up the lifestyle and started partying. As long as I stayed high, I could keep pretending I was special, better than everyone else.” But by his early 30s, he looked around and all his friends were dead or in jail.

Then Malcolm’s mom died. She had always been his best friend—his anchor. When he lost her, life didn’t make sense anymore. “My addiction grew out of control,” he says. “I started losing jobs. Friends and family didn’t want me around. I became homeless, and I got more and more depressed and angry. I hated who I’d become.

Malcolm knew he needed help, so he turned to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. “Coming here, I knew I had a second chance,” he says. “For the first time in a long time, I had hope.”

It was in New Journey, MRM’s recovery program for men, that Malcolm started reading the Bible and learned of God’s love for him. “That’s how I met Jesus Christ, my Savior. When I surrendered my life to Him, He gave me hope. Then I was able to deal with the mess of my life, which was me, and I found a whole support system to keep me on the right track. The people here showed me how to live for Christ, and they helped me mourn my mother. Everything changed.”

Today, Malcolm says he is clear-minded and a whole new creation.

“Thank you for supporting the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. Because of you, I learned that I am a redeemed child of God!”