The Enquirer and United Way of Greater Cincinnati have joined forces for the 35th year to help families in need with the Wish List program. This is the eighth and final story that will run this month.
Mark Rhoden finally has reasons to smile. He won’t, though. Not yet.
In a room at Twin Rails, a Covington sober-living house for men, the 44-year-old tells a story laced with tragedy, triumph, failure, forgiveness and redemption.
When growing up along the Ohio River in northeastern Kentucky, he sometimes went to school with black eyes or a broken nose. He says he turned to alcohol and drugs to dull the physical and emotional pain inflicted by his abusive father, who died by suicide in 2010.
“By the age of 14, I was a full-blown addict,” he says. By 16, he was living on his own.
“The only way of life I knew was drinkin’ and druggin’ and rippin’ and runnin’,” he says, his deep voice seasoned with a Kentucky drawl.
Over the years, he survived several dozen drug overdoses. “I should have been dead so many times,” he says.
While locked up in the Kenton County Detention Center in 2018, Rhoden took part in its Comprehensive Opioid Response with 12 Steps Jail Substance Abuse Program. He then was released to an aftercare program at Life Learning Center, a Covington-based nonprofit.
But while celebrating his birthday, he relapsed. He was fortunate that a judge gave him a second chance.
Rhoden repeated the jail’s substance abuse program in 2019. He returned to the Life Learning Center. “They gave me the tools and the knowledge that I needed to get it right,” he says. “It took me almost 30 years to get it right. I started applying myself and learning things about myself, about who I was.”
Most importantly, he was someone who no longer wanted to be addicted to drugs.
Life Learning Center staff helped him get a full-time job. They also helped him gain admission to Twin Rails, the sober-living house where he is now assistant resident manager. He attends recovery meetings several times a week. He serves as a sponsor to men who are starting their recovery journey. And he returns to the Life Learning Center to share his story and offer support to others.
On Nov. 18, Mark Rhoden marked two years of sobriety.
“His life has transformed,” says Laurie Hoppenjans, Life Learning Center’s director of care continuum and employment. She nominated him for the Wish List.
Being sober has allowed him to reconnect with his only child, a daughter, who is 18. They had not spoken for six years. “I’ve created a lot of harm for a lot of people because of my addictions,” he says. “The best thing is, she forgave me.”
To avoid the triggers that could lead to a relapse, he has made many changes. He found new friends, new places to go, new things to do.
But a constant reminder of his past remains. While he was addicted to methamphetamine, his teeth rotted and decayed. They are gone.
He would like the world to see who he has become, a man living with dignity and self-respect. His wish, not covered by Medicaid, is for dentures. Then, “I could actually smile again. I don’t know what it’s like to smile. I haven’t smiled in over 20 years.”
MARK RHODEN’S WISH: Dentures.
ESTIMATED COST: $2,600
How to help
Donations can be made online at www.uwgc.org/wishlist. You can also mail donations to: UWGC, Attn: Wish List, P.O. Box 632711, Cincinnati, OH 45263-2711.
John Johnston is the content writer at United Way and a former Enquirer reporter.
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