LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — We can all lose our way in life. No one is immune to a misstep or going down the wrong path. Rodney Gillis knows that firsthand.
“In 2020, I came out of prison after doing 10 years. “Unfortunately, slipped up to where I found myself homeless again,” Gillis said.
“I was on the street for about two years. Of course, during that time, I ended up relapsing back into my drug addiction.
Eddie Leon had his own story of addiction to share as well.
Just four years ago, he was on the street with recovery being the furthest thing away from him.
“I was broke. I was down on my luck. Everyone else, friends, say ‘oh I got you’ but nobody ever really helps,” Leon said.
Both these men did find help in the form of Sober Homiez.
The outreach program was created in 2019, tied into founder Paul Marino’s own journey to get a clean start in life.
“I came from rock bottom. Literally, poverty in my life, making mistakes in my life. In and out of the prison system the majority of my life,” Marino said.
“One day, I came up with a vision. That vision was to build a program. Right now, we currently house 80 people. 80 people, 98% success rate on sobriety.”
Sober Homiez works with men, women, children, families, couples, even survivors escaping domestic violence and sex trafficking.
Marino has worked to create an all-encompassing program, built on seven sober living homes in Las Vegas and one in Pahrump.
The expansion into Pahrump has been important for Marino, who is grateful for the support of Lieutenant Harry Williams with the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
“It was nice because in Pahrump it’s a smaller community so there’s not a lot of programs,” Lieutenant Williams said.
“As a law enforcement officer in Pahrump, you’d see someone on the street and you wouldn’t have a place for them.”
Building connections over the years has helped Sober Homiez impact thousands of people living in the valley.
People like Richard Schultz, who went from being depressed to rediscovering his love for life through the program.
“Being with Sober Homiez, I have a full-time job, I bought a car. I’m just grateful I’m sober and I don’t live like I used to,” Schultz said.
Marino told FOX 5 many of the people who once relied on the program for recovery are now working for it, helping others overcome the same struggles they once faced.
It’s given people like Leon a new lease on life.
“I’ve been sober for four years and helping many other people around here in these rooms. They are the ones that get me going,” Leon said.
Marino’s ultimate goal is to provide statewide outreach for Nevada, as Sober Homiez works to secure its nonprofit status.
He hopes to show political leaders how much community support he’s already gotten building this program out of his own pocket.
“People that come from where we come from pay it forward by helping others at their lowest. We help build them up,” Marino said.
If you want to learn more about Sober Homiez, click here.
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