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Take Nothing for Granted
Darryl reflects on the work and the wonder of his recovery at St. Anthony’s
September 9, 2026
The losses kept piling up. Family, friends, finances… and a long string of missed opportunities. But even after a voluntary stay at a plush rehabilitation center, Darryl was pulled back to his old alcohol patterns within days. At 51, he was worn out and desperate.
Looking back, he says that desperation was the gift that brought him to St. Anthony’s where, as he tells it, he surrendered and took his first steps toward hope and recovery.
The Father Alfred Center at St. Anthony’s offers a year-long residential recovery program where men like Darryl find the support and structure they need to get clean and sober and rebuild their lives. With help from a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, counselors, coaches and peers, participants find the tools to overcome addiction and establish healthy and productive lives.
The journey is difficult, and it takes focus and commitment. “I work hard every day to keep my sobriety,” says Darryl, including his job at St. Anthony’s Hygiene Hub where he shepherds visitors to the showers, restrooms and laundry machines that are free and ADA accessible.
He interviewed for the job while completing Workforce Development classes that helped sharpen a work profile that, while strong, needed to better align with today’s job market.
St. Anthony’s tech lab and job prep team helped him improve his computer skills and update his resume while diving deep into the skills he already had, and the skills he needed to elevate.
A lot was familiar, but some of it was completely new and eye-opening.
“I’ll give you an example,” Darryl says. “I’d never heard of ‘soft skills’.” Teamwork, communication, logistics—he’d never thought about his natural ability to keep the Hygiene Hub well-organized and make guests feel welcome and respected—even when the lines are long and the towels are running low. Learning to tout those strengths while honing others like time management and conflict resolution has given Darryl a new confidence in himself and his future.
He’s set his sights on becoming a 911 Dispatcher that will demand all of this and more as he learns to navigate the systems that manage calls and direct the appropriate response to emergency situations.
“As long as I stay on this path, I know good things will come,” Darryl says, “but I don’t take any of it for granted.” He’s seen peers come and go at St. Anthony’s—some just days away from a year-end celebration.
But bit by bit, day by day, things once lost to him are coming back. “I went to a 4th of July cookout—sober. I went to my niece’s graduation—sober. Thanksgiving, a funeral, a birthday party for a 1-year-old… so many firsts for me.” He shakes his head remembering how it was before, when he was banned from family events.
Darryl has many reasons to stay clean and sober, but closest to his heart is the life he wants to share with his daughter, now 11 years old. “I love being a dad,” he says, happy to report that they talk daily and have a date for a back-to-school shopping expedition in the coming weeks.
These moments—of family, of work-life, of making plans and keeping to them—all of it depends on the services St. Anthony’s provides at no charge to thousands of San Franciscans in the city’s Tenderloin and beyond.
As Darryl notes, recovery isn’t a finish line—it’s a journey you stay on, one day at a time. For people facing addiction, homelessness and other challenges, St. Anthony’s is there with the tools, support and community to help make that journey possible. Thanks to the generosity of thousands of donors, volunteers and supporters, neighbors in need like Darryl can find not only help, but hope for a new sober day, a happy birthday, a special school shopping spree and all the joys of an extraordinary ordinary life.
Your support helps keep St. Anthony’s doors open to our neighbors, providing essential care and creating pathways toward hope, stability, and renewal. Thank you for making this work possible. Donate today.
