09/28/2026
Our final National Recovery Month Comeback story is from JR. JR's story is one of resilience and strength. He has overcome many obstacles and odds that were stacked against him, but here is today, proudly living life in recovery and doing all he can to create a life that he can be proud of. JR is a delight to have in our community, a big heart and big dreams.
Let's show JR some love!!
Hello, my name is J.R.
I came to Truly Motivated on October 30, 2025, after another release from a State of Washington Department of Corrections facility. I am a 14-time convicted felon, with two violent crime, strikable offenses, and around 40 various misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor convictions. I have spent more than 21 of the last 28 years incarcerated in facilities and institutions throughout the State of Washington, mostly in the Thurston/Mason County areas where most of my offenses occurred.
I was born in Olympia, Washington, at St. Peter’s Hospital on April 14, 1979—the same hospital and day as my dad and my son. I spent my early years growing up in several homes and a couple of foster care homes all over the Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Shelton areas with my little sister. When I was 10 years old, we became homeless, living in tents out in the Capitol Forest. We spent our nights and weekends at the campsite, moving from camp to camp on a weekly basis so the Department of Natural Resources couldn’t take our stuff to the dump. We would go into the South Puget Sound Community College locker rooms to shower and get dropped off at whatever school we were attending at the time. I personally attended 15 different schools before dropping out from Olympia High School in the 9th grade, after which I would run the downtown streets. I was a daily drunk/pothead by age 12 and an IV m**h user at age 14.
I will skip the "woe-is-me" gory details and move on to where I am today. Since arriving at Truly Motivated, I have found stability and a family that wants nothing more than for me to succeed. From my fellow program participants (my brothers and sisters) to the staff, they all have played a part in my success, for which I cannot express enough gratitude. But all glory goes to God—som**hing I haven't been able to say out loud in my life until now.
To understand just how far I have come, you needed to know where I began. I came to Truly Motivated with an Associate of Arts degree (completed), two classes away from an Associate of Business, and two classes away from an Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration, all earned over my last two prison sentences. I was also inducted into the international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, for maintaining a cumulative college GPA greater than 3.5. Currently, I still have a 3.71 GPA, but I had never been able to successfully transition my education from incarceration to the streets. Third times a charm! As it stands today, I am enrolled at The Evergreen State College in Olympia for a dual bachelor's degree program (business/natural sciences), and I will begin classes this upcoming fall quarter.
But it does not stop there, because of the Truly Motivated miracle(s), and God's grace and forgiveness, I have gained stable employment, opened a bank account (after over 20 years of not having one), paid off my student debt, and am now able to repay my back child support debt. I will also be getting my license again soon after not driving for over 18 years—not even illegally! So, watch out and stay off the sidewalks when you see me driving; just joking! I even ordered som**hing online for the first time since the invention of the internet.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to all those who have helped me get here. If I missed someone, it is only because I am writing this under pressure and the direct supervision of my staff coach! Of course, I want to thank God first and foremost, as well as everyone involved with Truly Motivated—the staff, residents, and sponsors—because without them, I would not have had a chance.
I also want to shout out to my DOC Officer, Officer Shufelt. Though we may have started out on an extremely rough note, he has truly had my back and gone above and beyond to support me through all of my challenges. Thank you to the Associate Director of Admissions, Ms. Toby Sawyer, who has personally taken the time to guide me through the enrollment process at The Evergreen State College. She even dropped everything at home and rushed to meet me on campus because I didn't know how to do a "Zoom meeting" and didn't realize that was what I had actually scheduled!
I could continue for at least another page giving thanks, but I wanted to paint a picture of just how much God and Truly Motivated have done for me.
Forever grateful and sincerely,
J.R.
