Merino's Story

I was an only child; my mom was an alcoholic and my dad was never present in the home. Our home was always in chaos, but my grandparents would regularly step in. I suffered trauma as a child due to my mother’s addiction and her bad choices with men in her life. When I was 11 or 12, my grandparents took me to live with them and my life improved. They taught me good morals.

From age 18 to 35 I was involved in multiple kinds of marshall arts and I won 7 gold medals, but on the side, I sold marijuana. In 2003-2005, I was top of my class in the world and owned my own dental lab company. Some years later, I needed surgery and was prescribed pain pills. This quickly sent me on a downward spiral and I ended up on methamphetamines, running with gangs and getting into trouble.
Finally, in 2012, I sought recovery at CityTeam San Francisco, where Shirley Pounds was the director.
I did well for several years. In 2017 I was living in Concord with very little accountability, and I
was grieving over not being allowed to have a relationship with my children. I relapsed and ended up in jail. The judge sentenced me to a year program at RESTORE where Mike and Shirley Pounds were the directors.

While at RESTORE, I pressed in hard with God, praying and reading my Bible and sought to surrender my whole life into God’s Hands. It took time, but God did some tremendous miracles in my life. I graduated from the program in January 2021; I had my record expunged, graduated from the Peer Support Specialist Program with Contra Costa County; married my beautiful wife, Lauren; and was able to get a job at CORE Outreach with Contra Costa County. I have been on this job for 2 years and have been able to help close to 1,000 unhoused homeless people find housing. Its been hard work but God has blessed my efforts! I have won awards from the District Attorney’s Office. I am so grateful for every blessing in my life today! And I am helping the Pounds open a Healing Refuge Home, a part of Compassion-Connections, for the addicted poor!