Brian Shoulders is using his 2014 Kia Sorrento to pay forward the help he received while recovering from addiction.

“While I was in recovery, people gave me countless rides,” he said.

The Cleveland native grew up with addiction in his home and his addiction to alcohol and drugs led to suspension of his driver’s license, incarceration and homelessness. A hospitalization in March 2022 was the final prompt to make changes, he said. In order to reach future goals, he needed to drive again.

One of his providers at Lorain County Health and Dentistry told him about the By Car program operated in partnership between OhioMeansJobs Lorain County and LCCAA. By Car matches savings at a rate of $3 for every $1 saved from earned income. Participants must be actively involved in OhioMeansJobs programs and complete a financial class at LCCAA.

“I wanted my freedom back,” Brian said. “I got sober to keep moving forward.”

OhioMeansJobs also helped him find a career path that excites him.

“My problem my whole life was I never knew what I wanted to do,” he said. “Due to my addiction, I’ve had a lot of jobs. I’ve been through every imaginable situation.”

His series of experiences made Brian uniquely qualified to work as a chemical dependency counselor with Road to Hope. The residential program specializes in helping newly sober people navigate the changes they need to make in their lives. As the program Alcoholics Anonymous encourages, Brian now shares his experience, strength and hope with other men.

“To be able to give back to newly sober guys, I tell them how I stay sober,” Brian said. “I can’t make them want sobriety, but I can show them how much better my life is because of sobriety.”

Meanwhile, he continues to celebrate the “small miracles in my life,” he said. He has a relationship again with his two adult daughters, has his own home and car and is tapped into what he calls an “undeniable” divine source. And he relishes the opportunity to help others learn what he has learned.

“You dug yourself a hole with a backhoe and you’re trying to fill it in with a spoon,” he said of addiction. “Other people jumped in the hole with their spoons and helped me.”

His new car is just another way Brian is wielding his spoon to help others.

“It’s our car,” he says, “not my car. My goal is to stay at Road to Hope and grow with them. I’m eager to get to work and see the guys and help them.”

For more information on Road to Hope, visit their website. 

For more information on the By Car program, click here.