“When I came here, I just surrendered,” Lellon Gorham recalls about his experience at the South Baltimore Station. “I realized I didn't know what I thought I knew about staying clean and I was tired of living the way I was living.”

Lellon's story is one that can be told by many of the men entering the South Baltimore Station each year. After abusing alcohol and drugs for 35 years and winding up homeless in an abandoned house, Lellon knew he needed a change. That's when he entered the Station and where he stayed for 9 months.

His journey of substance abuse began at the age of 9 when he first picked up alcohol as nothing more than a curiosity.  Over the next several years, Lellon's experiments became more daring and he eventually turned to using speed, LSD, PCP and cocaine. “When I thought I was old enough to go against the grain, I just went.  But I got stuck there,” says Lellon.  His drug abuse continued throughout high school, but he was able to continue with his extracurricular activities and even maintain high grades up until graduation.

During his adulthood, Lellon continued his substance abuse off and on even during his tour of Vietnam and while working for the Defense Department. “A lot of times when I was working, I was high.  I had four years of clean time, but I was still addicted to the lifestyle of the streets and eventually relapsed.  Then I hit rock bottom. I was unemployed and homeless. I was tired, had lost a lot of weight and wasn't bathing.” Like many men at the Station, Lellon hit his breaking point.  “I put on some nice clothes, even though I hadn't bathed in a month, and got on a bus. A little girl, about 10 years old sitting next to me said, ‘Mister, your clothes look nice, but you stink.'  That comment really made me take a look at where I was heading,” reminisces Lellon.

Today, Lellon is on his journey of recovery. He holds a full-time job, is engaged to be married, is in the process of buying a house, has a driver's license and car, volunteers his time at his local PAL center, is active in his church and has decided to go back to another passion – playing the cello.  “I love Classical music!” exclaims Lellon.

When asked what the South Baltimore Station gave to him, Lellon's face lights up. “They give you a chance to free yourself. They help take that ball and chain off your ankle and teach you how to live and survive in society.”

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