Local Voices
Not anchored - A Navy man's battle
When Josh Pike entered the Naval Academy in Annapolis, he achieved something few accomplish.
The academically rigorous entrance to one of America's finest institutions put Josh Pike on course for success.
"I was playing on the Navy soccer team and enjoyed that so much, but the college pressure there never stops," he said. "We were expected to put forth a lot of effort all the time." For someone who struggled with depression and self-medicating with drugs, he withdrew after two years and went home to Maryland.
"My story started in high school when I had my wisdom teeth removed and took some pain pills at age 14," he said. His mother, a teacher, and his father, an attorney, thought they had a bright, athletic child, but underneath he was heading for destruction.
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By age 20, he was home from college, but a weekend party turned into more parties and an opioid addiction. When he tried to withdraw, he got so sick that he took drugs again. The cycle continued for years and included a long list of crimes he's not proud of now – buying and selling drugs, theft, pawning, panhandling and forgery.
He was in and out of rehab and finally landed in an Atlanta program, with a life cycle of jail, rehab, jail. Finally, he got in trouble in Cobb County and was sent to the innovative Veteran's Treatment Court. He got in trouble again and was sent to prison for a year, but that stint changed his life.
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"When I got out and returned to the court, my desperation had lifted. I wanted to go back to school and get a job," he explained. One of the mentors at the court is Col. Jan Apo, the case manager for Veterans at MUST Ministries who helped Josh find resources. "MUST put a roof over my head. I was living in my car and was able to stay at the MUST shelter," Josh said. Then I got an apartment with MUST's veteran's housing program. I've been clean 2 years."
"I am extremely grateful for everything MUST has done for me - the mentorship, the leadership and walking me through basic skills in life that I didn't realize I didn't know," he said. "The support from MUST and the individuals I have gotten to know has just been tremendous and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for MUST.
"I had no goal to be an addict," he said thoughtfully. "I had plans and dreams." Now, he is pursuing those and one day soon, he'll get there.
