A second chance, fully invested
For years, Derek looked successful from the outside. He had built a career in business development, owned a four-bedroom home, drove a nice car, and led a professional life that suggested everything was going well. But inside, Derek was struggling.
As the youngest of five, he often felt like he didn’t measure up.
His father suffered a serious heart attack when Derek was 15, and during those difficult teenage years, alcohol became an escape.
What began when he was young followed him through college and into adulthood.
“I had a reputation as the work-hard, party-harder kind of guy,” Derek remembers.
Because he continued working and achieving professionally, it was easy for others, and even Derek himself, to miss how serious his addiction had become.
Eventually, everything came to a halt.
For nearly a week, Derek stopped going to work, turned off his phones, and isolated himself in his home. When his mother finally came to his door, Derek opened it and said the words that would change his life:
“Mom, I think I need help. I think I need to go to rehab.”
From that moment, Derek’s family began looking for a way to help him.
After he entered detox, his sister, Heather, knew her brother needed somewhere to go next.
Through her own struggle with infertility, Heather had formed a friendship with Toni McFadden, wife of PAATC CEO Kris McFadden. So when her brother needed help, Heather reached out to someone she trusted.
She told Toni that Derek was in detox and asked about Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge.
By then, Derek was ready to stop trying to figure everything out on his own. “Whatever my family says to do, I’m just going to do it,” he remembers.
Five days into detox, Derek climbed into the car with his mother and sister and headed to Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge.
He arrived in July 2019 expecting treatment, but what he found was something much deeper.
Within his first month, Derek committed his life to Jesus Christ on the prayer deck.
And as he began rebuilding his life, Derek approached his time at Teen Challenge much like he had approached his professional career: he wanted to learn from someone who had gone before him.
So, he asked for a meeting with Kris McFadden.
Derek remembers asking Kris how he had gone from his own troubled past to where God had brought him. Then Derek asked how Kris had “spent” his time at Teen Challenge.
Kris corrected him. “You’re asking the wrong question. I never spent my time here. I invested it here.”
Those words stayed with Derek.
Kris began meeting with him and giving him books to study. Derek filled notebooks with what he was learning. The conversations and mentorship became part of the foundation God was building beneath him.
Derek graduated from Teen Challenge in June 2020. And while the years immediately following graduation didn’t always look extraordinary from the outside, God was still working.
Today, Derek can see the fruit.
He has continued in recovery.
He has served others.
He met and married his wife, and today they are raising their baby girl.
The man who once felt his life didn’t matter now recognizes just how much grace God has given him.
That’s why Matthew 10:8 has become part of Derek’s life: “Freely you have received; freely give.”
Our long-term discipleship program is about far more than helping someone stop using drugs or alcohol. We help men discover who they are in Christ. We help rebuild character, restore families, develop responsibility, and create healthy spiritual foundations that can last a lifetime.
Stories like these are only possible because friends like you step forward in generosity.
Your gift can change a life.
By donating to our scholarship fund, you help individuals access the recovery support they need but may not be able to afford. Together, we can offer hope, healing, and a chance for a brighter future. Every contribution makes a difference—thank you for being part of their recovery story.
