Enzo: A Life Outside the Walls

Now that he is sober and clean for close to three years, Enzo can look back over a 25 year period in his life when he was sentenced to prison almost 30 times. He was highly addicted and supported his addiction through committing many break and enters.

Today he finds it hard to believe that was his life. His last charges were for a drug-fueled crime that was intended to be a break and enter. There were people in the home (which he didn’t realize until after he had broken in). This escalated his charges to a much more serious home invasion classification with the possibility of a ten year sentence.

He attended the CJHS Treatment, Knowledge, Opportunity program (TKO) – a ten week program for individuals in remand who are hoping to prepare a release plan for themselves and learn essential skills. He finished the program, and was then sentenced and sent to prison for six years. While there, his father was a victim of homicide and even though he wasn’t involved in any way, he still felt shame and remorse. This stalled his healing and upon release, led to him turning back to his old patterns.

Disowned by his family, full of fear of returning to prison and with few coping skills, he began using almost immediately to numb the pain. After a year of him returning to his old life, his partner gave him an ultimatum to get clean and she left. That was the turning point for Enzo. He decided to get clean and sober. After 18 months of sobriety, remembering his good experience with the CJHS TKO program, he participated in our Learning Enhanced Employment
Program (LEEP).

Today, he is working temporarily as the CJHS Greeter helping clients navigate COVID-19 protocols when they come to the CJHS Community Services Building for appointments. His mother is starting to welcome him back and for Enzo, coming from a close knit Italian family, that is an enormous step towards healing and restoring his life.