Dustin French walked through the doors of The Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center in downtown Denver in July after 16 years as an addict.

It had taken him more than half a year to muster the courage to do so, but he was determined to make a change in his life. 

It was during the 32-year-old’s last days as a drug user that he finally came to terms with the fact he needed something more substantial than a standard 30-day treatment program.

“I thought I was going to die if I kept using,” French said. “Then I found this place.”

Helping people like French is the mission of The Salvation Army, a faith-based nonprofit that has had a presence in the Mile High City for more than 140 years.

The Salvation Army plans to direct more money and resources into programs like the one at its Harbor Light Center at 2136 Champa St. in downtown Denver.

Its strategy is to “bring holistic transformation to every single individual we encounter and that means not just sheltering, it means drug and alcohol rehabilitation,” said Salvation Army Maj. Nesan Kistan, commander of the charity’s intermountain division.

The Harbor Light Center is The Salvation Army’s comprehensive residential treatment facility. It can accommodate up to 120 men at a time and only serves men.

The center has 11 paid staff members, plus a Salvation Army chaplain, and contracts with mental health therapists to provide services two to three days per week.

Since it first opened in Denver in 1984, Salvation Army officials estimate, between 6,000 and 10,000 men have received help at the center.

In addition to providing a safe and structured environment, the center offers a range of support services, including classes, job-readiness training and transitional living assistance.

The free six-and-a-half-month program attracts residents from a four-state area, but any U.S. resident may enter the treatment program provided he has successfully completed a detox program first.

The program aims to reintegrate individuals back into society through vocational training and community support.

Residents who graduate from the program, and find employment, may stay at Harbor Light for up to two years total, moving into transitional housing, sometimes called “Sober Living,” which is on the third floor of the building.

To enter into the transitional housing program, Harbor Light Center Program Director Marah Beltz said, a job is required, and residents must pay Harbor Light 25% of their income, not to exceed $800 per month.

Meals are provided, as well sack lunches for those who want to eat them at work.

Curfews must be observed, and random urine analysis continues until residents leave the program.

Religious study is offered, but residents are not required to share the same faith and may choose to do their own spiritual programming.

DUSTIN FRENCH, 32

Leaving behind what he described as a “toxic situation that wasn’t good for me,” French boarded a bus and made his way to Denver.

Upon arrival, he was picked up from the bus station by Salvation Army personnel and brought to the Harbor Light Center, where he was quickly provided a shower, settled in a room and his belongings searched — a requirement of all new residents.

Moving from his small rural hometown, French said adjusting to life in a major metropolitan city has been a challenge.

“It just seems so intimidating, the big, tall buildings,” he said. 

He also misses family members. 

“Really, I’m on my own,” French said. “I’m maturing, getting through my addiction and I’m understanding it better.” 

Beltz said residents are encouraged to be selfish in their recovery, “because you can’t be there for anybody else if you’re not there for yourself.”

“When they first come in, it’s really important for them to kind of detox, not only like physically detox from drugs and alcohol, which they do before they get here, but from social media, from toxic relationships, from demanding relationships,” Beltz said. “So, they’re actually on a 30-day blackout period where they are not allowed to leave the building, and they do not have access to their electronics, and it really helps them to refocus on themselves and choose themselves first.”

Although he’s still in the early phases of the program, French said he has benefited not only from the program’s extended length but also from many of the classes offered during his stay, such as the Moral Reconation Therapy class – or MRT for short.

MRT is a cognitive-behavioral program born out of the Department of Corrections, according to Beltz, which leads to higher moral reasoning and better decision making.

“Typically, it includes everything from looking within to address behaviors and decision making that were unhealthy, to goal planning, to volunteerism,” she said.

Other classes include lessons on boundaries, budgeting, healthy relationships, and physical health.

“I’ve done this program and it’s very doable,” French tells others considering getting clean. “You really gotta want it; you got to do it because it’s not going to be done for you.”

ISAIAH BROOME, 43

Tennessee native Isaiah Broome was a stellar athlete and, within a five-year period, suffered a series of significant life losses.

“I lost both my parents to cancer. I got divorced and I had a kid, just things that a person is probably getting to therapy for, and I just didn’t,” Broome said. “I just put it on the back burner, and I ended up turning to alcohol, and then alcohol turned into drugs, and then it just became a cycle.”

Broome, 43, a burly, gentle, bearded man, told The Denver Gazette that addiction took over his life.

“I don’t know what brought me here,” he said. “I think it was God.”

It was a by-chance visit to his brother in Denver that Broome discovered the Harbor Light Center.

“I wanted to get sober,” he said. “And this place just called to me.”

For many individuals seeking sobriety, just getting through the door for the first time requires formidable courage.

“They really do a good job at bringing you in quickly,” Broome said of the Harbor Light staff on the day of his arrival. “They don’t give you time to think twice.”

Settling into the program was like a series of mysterious puzzle pieces, he said, with each piece falling into place at just the right time. 

The 30-day blackout period was one of those pieces that offered Broome a pleasant surprise. 

“By not looking at that phone, 24/7, being able to walk around and just catch your breath, and get your sleep habits down, eat three meals a day, you learn how to sleep again – you learn how to just become a human being,” he said.

Access to mental health and spiritual support has been a key component of the program, something Broome said has helped him put the “fire” back in his life.

His previous attempts to get help were met with stigma.

“I went to try to go get mental help one time, a while ago, and the guy kind of looked at me and gave me, like, a pat and said, ‘You’ll be OK,’” Broome said. “And so, I just put it off.”

Broome graduated from the six-month program and has entered the Sober Living phase. He now has a job, a dependable car with insurance, and money in the bank.

“I’m like, man, just look at me; I came in here with nothing,” he said. “It’s OK to take your life back.”

ADAM WOLLERT, 37

After an extended period of staying clean, Adam Wollert relapsed into alcoholism and knew he was back on a familiar dark path.

A stalled career, a troubled relationship, and not taking care of himself compounded the situation.

“I didn’t pursue community structure, or anything to help my emotions or my mental health; I just went right back to work,” he said. “So, when I relapsed, I realized that I wasn’t as well adjusted as I thought I was.”

He wanted a way to address not only his addiction, but other problematic areas in his life, as well.

“I was really depressed and did not have good thoughts,” the 37-year old with a toned, chiseled frame said. “I didn’t have a lot of positive self-talk or self-love. I was running from my emotions, which is why I was using.”

When Wollert arrived at the Harbor Light Center, he was actively drinking and was sent to detox before entering the Salvation Army program.

The required 30-day blackout period was tough for him, as he didn’t want to lose contact with his 14-year-old daughter.

Access to mental health resources through the program helped Wollert begin to understand that his difficulties were symptoms of other issues in his life that needed to be addressed. 

“They gave me a direction to start fixing things about me that I had been avoiding for a really long time, things that were getting me down, sometimes even borderline suicidal,” he said. “Now, I wake up every day happy.” 

“My life right now is night and day compared to where I was when I first got here,” Wollert added. “(I have) actual optimism about my future. I’m not lost anymore.”

Since entering the program on July 16, Wollert, who was raised Catholic, has returned to practicing his faith and now frequents the gym.

Classroom lectures have helped him become more open and honest with himself.

“Being able to address my emotional and mental health was what really turned it around for me,” he said. “And that’s what’s helped me grow, because that made everything else stronger.”