When Max was six, his sister was born with cerebral palsy. His mother abandoned the newborn in the hospital – she left Max there, too.
His father took the children home and soon remarried, but he and his new wife were both alcoholics. Max felt abandoned, and rebelled. “I used to run away from home and get in trouble with the law,” recalls Max. “I turned 13 in jail.”
Today, Max is in his 60s. He’s been a professional wrestler, a firefighter and even a volunteer policeman. He’s also struggled with addiction.
“I can tell you how to save your life, but I couldn’t save my own,” he said.
In his darkest moment, a stranger talked him out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. “I should be dead,” Max said. “God saved my life.”
Max came to CityTeam, and with courage went on to graduate from our life transformation program.
“I’m no longer afraid of living life,” he said.
“I have an adopted family,” Max said of CityTeam. “I want to be a success story that comes back and gives back what he has.”