The first thing Twil said to me when we first met: "I am a product of my own insanity." Dressed to the nines in a baggy, black suit and red, shiny power-tie, the then 62 year old Twil, short for Twilver, segued into a condensed version of his story in a small City Team basement room at the cross streets of gritty 6th and Mission.
Introduced as his mentor, I didn't have a chance to speak before he launched into his life stories and experiences that— quite honestly, confused me. A native of the Filmore District,Twil had been in and out of recovery his whole life and was six months into his year long program.
As my eye darted away from the vintage iMac in the cluttered side room, I knew that Twil's life and mine were on a crash course. I became a regular volunteer, member and later staff member of City Church—in that order—because of my involvement in City Hope's mentoring program. Twil was my second client and Kim was my new co-coach.
The program, aimed at helping the men in the recovery program transition back into the world, evolved from the long relationship between the church and the homeless-feeding, drug recovery program. Most of the men living, serving and studying at the San Francisco campus were recovering from lives of addiction and loss; burned bridges and estrangement were common themes in many of these stories.
Above all the wrap-around services we offer clients, our mentoring program provides healthy relationships for those who need it most. Having seen a few things, Twil was giving me what he thought I wanted to hear that first, information-filled day. After time, Twil understood that Kim and I were friends with whom he can confide. Almost a year and a half later, Twil, Kim and I have been through thick and thin together.
As with many of our lives Twil's life has been full of challenges, in this time he has sought baptism, left the program, restarted his job at the Westfield, reentered the program, graduated, served as a City Team intern, held a steady job and is twenty-two months sober. Meeting with Twil is a consistent reminder that we are all in process and that God loves us.
The commitment of two meetings per month that Kim, Twil, and I made a year a half ago has woven our lives together, time marked by moments: dinners with Kim parents, Christmas parties, thousands of sweet potato fries, football games, Movie Music at the SF Symphony, cumquats at the Ferry Building, celebrating achievement, and mourning loss.