There was a special ceremony several weeks ago at the Arlington diocesan Christ House shelter in Alexandria. They were celebrating the “graduation” of two men who were leaving the shelter for more independent lives. The formal celebration was a first for Christ House.

Men leave the Alexandria shelter all the time, and most to go on to a better life. Some, according Tom Bransfield, program director, leave “due to being non-compliant with our rules and regulations.”

But this was a happy occasion. The men embraced the chance to move on.

Gene and Roger (not their real names) have two different stories, but both are compelling and illustrate the power of hope and faith, and a wonderful reason for thanksgiving.

Gene

Gene is a middle-aged man, an Oklahoma native and a convert to Catholicism. He walks with a cane and wears a neck brace, the result of a head-on car crash in 1989. The six neck surgeries and multiple leg operations have not helped his almost constant pain.

Gene walks with a deliberate gait and when he sits, he carefully holds on to the sides of the chair and slowly lowers his body into the seat, grimacing slightly as he tries to find a position that doesn’t hurt. He frequently shifts his body to get comfortable.

He’s been at the shelter longer than the usual several-month stay, but is looking forward to being on his own.

Gene worked in the Washington, D.C., area as a disc jockey at local night clubs. A second accident, which exacerbated his earlier injuries, sent him into a depression, a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome according to doctors.

The injuries prevented him from working. His depression deepened, and life looked dim, until a friend told him about Christ House.

In addition to giving Gene, and other residents, basic transitional shelter, Christ House provided spiritual guidance and a mentor program. He credits the mentor program for giving him the confidence to move out of the shelter. Volunteers are matched with residents to help guide them in the transition from resident to independent.

“(The mentorship program) was a huge, huge help to me,” Gene said. “It was a lifeline being extended to me.”

He’s now living in Alexandria, sharing an apartment with a roommate in a halfway house. Eventually Gene will move on to total independence. He still receives medication and therapy from local social services, but he’s looking forward to some promising pain-reducing surgery in the near future.

“I will never be able to repay the generosity and love that was shown to me by Christ House and its staff,” he said. “I’m so blessed with what everyone’s done for me.”

The ties to Christ House are hard to sever and Gene says he plans to volunteer at the shelter to help others.

Roger

Roger, a man in his early 30s, looks like someone you’d see sitting in a coffee shop, dressed in jeans, baseball cap and a T-shirt, hunched over a laptop. There’s a confident, casual air about him. He worked in the television industry for media giants like Fox and CBS and had a wife and young son. He’s not Catholic, but considers himself spiritual — and he prays.

Everything appeared to be going in the right direction for him. He was busy working 12-to 14-hour days and spending time with family and friends, when the bottom fell out.

“It was a perfect storm,” Roger said. The economic slump was affecting businesses and in September 2008 he was laid off from his job. Not long after, his wife left, taking their child.

Roger figured the job loss would be temporary and someone with his education and experience would find work soon. He dutifully updated his resume.

“I’d wake up every morning and send out some resumes and check my e-mail, but there was nothing.”

By mid-October 2008 he was falling into what he described as “situational depression” — a possible consequence of when an otherwise upbeat person facing a series of situations becomes emotionally fragile.

Roger went out with friends to happy hours at various bars thinking it would help. He had trouble sleeping and began to drink heavily.

“It was a horrific cycle,” he said.

In March 2009 he moved to Alexandria, hoping a change of locale would be therapeutic.

He got a job at an Alexandria bar — the irony of that is not lost on him. The urge to drink was not there, so he felt he was out of danger.

And he was, until his depression overpowered him and he began drinking again. He went to a local detox center and finally wound up checking himself into the Northern Virginia Mental Health Center in Falls Church. He was treated for depression and alcoholism and referred to Christ House. He arrived at the shelter in August 2009 with two bags of clothing.

Roger said the Christ House mentoring program enabled him to move to independent living. The mentors got him back on a career path and got him back looking for employment.

“They were my adrenalin shot,” he said.

Christ House took care of his basic needs and gave him the wireless connection to continue looking for work.

The Christ House staff helped him find a job at a local restaurant and he saved money, enough to send some to his son. His life was turning around.

He saw a opening with an international company based in Europe. It was for a job he knew he could do. He applied. Not long after, he was contacted for an interview — an interview that lasted the entire day.

“I prayed that morning,” he said.

Roger got the job, which involved some training in Europe and the opportunity to travel around the world.

“I’m a riches, to rags, to hopefully riches story,” he said.

The key for him, he said, was to stop drinking and to rediscover his spirituality. Roger knows there’ll be more struggles, but he is confident in the help he got from Christ House.

“They brought me back to hope and faith,” he said.

Roger hopes to give to others like the staff and volunteers have given to him.

Bransfield is proud of the two men and their success. He said that each of them represent how people exit the program successfully: one getting housing through Alexandria’s Mental Health Independent living program and the other finding work in his field.

“I think it’s fantastic that they are headed out on their own. It’s the real function of Christ House to take people who are on the street and at the low points of their lives and give them a place to stay and assistance to make their way back onto their feet,” he said.