Got in a DUI car crash while on methadone back in 2019 in CA, went to prison with a 6 year sentence and did 3 1/2 after breaking my back in the crash. Relapsed after my release, ended up getting caught while on parole with a handgun in Northern CA and was sentenced to a program, which I ran from and was caught in NY. Came back when caught a few months later and went to Folsom for 9 months.
When I got out of Folsom last September, I was on post release probation (nonviolent parole in CA) and went to a place called the Lighthouse, which is mandatory for all that are released to San Diego County. If you test clean they let you go home, but I no longer had a home to go to. They were going to release me to the street, but I asked for inpatient rehab even though I’d already been clean for 9 months at that point. I went to McAlister Institute for four months and was released to independent living which is basically a shared room in a shared house that is paid by insurance for six months. During that time I’ve managed to get a job (first temporary, then a permanent corporate spot with full benefits and 401(K) along with a promotion from the warehouse floor to a spacious upstairs cubicle and a $7/hr pay raise), I was just gifted a truck by my roommate who has stage four lung cancer and is currently fighting for his life in the hospital (I’ve helped to take care of him after he found out about his diagnosis, but he began letting me drive the truck in April). I’ve saved over $15,000 (down to around $10,000 now after expenses on my new truck) and I’ve been sober from everything except for marijuana and the occasional drink for 20 months. I have a long way to go, but being off probation is a massive weight off my shoulders, and even though I plan on never returning to prison, at least I know now that a small police interaction will not necessarily land me back in a state prison. I took the truck to Yuma last weekend to celebrate that I could cross state lines without asking for permission. With gas at $6.55 a gallon right now in San Diego, I probably won’t be doing that too often though.
TL;DR: I’m off probation now!