Client Story – Terry

Terry is exuberant and magnetic, impossible to miss during the monthly Food for the Soul Luncheon at Loop Ministries. Taking a break from entertaining a table of friends over a plate of ribs, he relates his life history with this characteristic cheerfulness, his smile a reminder of endurance in the face of hardship.

A Rochester native and the second youngest of eight children, Terry grew up in a family who often struggled to make ends meet. He became a father himself at age 17, and turned to dealing drugs to support his infant son. “I was like a hamster on a wheel,” he says, frantically spinning his hands in pantomime of the chaos of this earlier life, “moving fast, going nowhere.”  But after facing a lengthy prison sentence, he has committed himself to transforming his life, relying on his faith to lead him towards a better future.

Now, at 46, Terry is full of hope and excitement. He has enrolled in a GED program, thankful for the new clothes he’s received through the Ministry’s donation, and he is working hard to support his elderly mother and five year old daughter by raking leaves and doing odd jobs in his neighborhood.

“I believe in miracles,” he says, “God has blessed me. My path is blessed.”