When I got to the Mann House on October 1st, 2008, I was a fried, broken, maladjusted almost 50 year old baby inside a man’s body. As it is written in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, “I was in full flight from reality” and my friend Mike Kirby says “I wasn’t coming in for a landing anytime soon.”

One of the requirements for me to reside at the house was to keep a daily feelings journal. My director and counselor, Greg Haywood, told me that keeping a journal would help me to track my feelings and my growth in recovery. So, every morning I’d get up between 5:00 and 5:30 am, sit in the dining room, and begin to write events and feelings from my previous day. I would also log what meeting I attended and the number of days I had been in the Mann House.

Today, I have been living out of the house for one year. I still journal every day. I can reflect back for the last 20 months where I was and compare it to where I am today in my recovery. In other words, I can track my growth. Over the years, I believe the Mann House has both helped and saved the lives of many men. I am one of them. When I arrived at 14 Williams Street in 2008, no institution or human being was willing to take the risk of housing me, except the Mann House. And for that, I will always be grateful.

Jerry DiEleuterio
Mann House Alumni