Rocco's Story: Destroyed it all in 30 days

What the Lord built in three and a half years, Rocco tore down in thirty days.

That's not an exaggeration. That's what he'll tell you himself. After nearly two decades of addiction, a year in jail, and a long-term faith-based program that actually worked, Rocco had finally built something worth having. Sobriety. Family relationships. Trust. A future.

Then he stopped going to church. Skipped a few Bible studies. Told himself he was too tired, too busy, that he'd catch the next one.

Five months later, he relapsed. Not a toe in the water. A headfirst dive off the deep end.

"I picked up right where I left off three years ago," Rocco says. "And it got bad."

Seventeen Years on the Merry-Go-Round

Rocco's story starts where a lot of stories start: jails, hospitals, overdoses, charges stacking up like unpaid bills. Seventeen years of the same cycle, each lap worse than the one before.

"It was like being on a merry-go-round," he says. "Just the same thing, in and out of jails, charge after charge, overdose after overdose. But worse every time."

The courts finally stopped playing nice. They handed him a heavy sentence, and for the first time in his adult life, Rocco had space to think. A year in jail. No running. No chasing the next high. Just time.

His family wanted nothing to do with him. They didn't call. Didn't write. And honestly, he understood why.

But something else was happening in that jail. A group of men met for Bible studies. They'd wake Rocco up from sleeping all day, drag him to prayer circles, push him toward Scripture. He didn't realize it then, but seeds were being planted.

"Maybe this Jesus is what I need," he finally admitted to himself. "Maybe this is what I've been searching for forever."

The First Rebuilding

His sister found a program called Dare Challenge down in the Outer Banks. Eight to twelve months. Rocco's first reaction: "Not going to that. That's crazy. I just did a year."

But his mom said something that stuck: "What's different from all the other programs is Jesus is the center of this."

He went. He told himself that even if he got nothing else out of it, he'd at least finish something for once. Two and a half months in, something shifted. The anger and bitterness started breaking apart. The Word started coming alive.

Rocco graduated. Stayed connected. Served. Led. Built three and a half years of real recovery.

Then he disconnected.

The Thirty-Day Destruction

It started slowly. Work got busy. He told himself he didn't have time for church. The Bible studies could wait. He was tired.

"Life can get you," Rocco admits. "You start working, doing all these things, and next thing you know you're sitting there telling yourself, 'I don't have time to go to church. I don't have time to make it to the Bible study. I'm tired.'"

Five months of drifting. Then one bad decision. And the shame and guilt that followed didn't push him toward help. They pushed him deeper.

"I dipped my toe in, and then that shame and guilt came upon me. Next thing you know, I was jumping off the diving board headfirst."

Thirty days. That's all it took. Another charge. Back in jail. Homeless. Broke. Family cut off again.

The prodigal son, back in the pigpen.

The Rebuild That Sticks

Rocco knew what he had to do. He picked up the phone. He went back into a program. He did the work again, this time at Shenandoah Valley Teen Challenge.

But something's different this time.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself the first time," he explains. "If somebody was smoking a cigarette or drinking a beer near me, I couldn't even be around them. That led me to a lonely place. And that isolation made me fold."

This time, Rocco's learning to walk in grace instead of white-knuckling his way through legalism. Boundaries matter. But so does actually living.

"I have to walk as a new creation like the Bible tells me. I'm not going to live as a Christian statue."

His family has forgiven him. Completely. He's moving in with them, rebuilding trust one day at a time. Not because he deserves it, but because grace works like that.

For the Families Still Praying

When asked what he'd say to a mom or dad who feels like it's too late for their kid, Rocco doesn't hesitate.

"Those prayers that they think aren't reaching heaven? They are. My mom's prayers are the reason I'm sitting here. She prayed for almost twenty years before I came to the Lord."

He pauses.

"Those prayers are the most powerful thing you can do for your loved one. Not in our timing. God's timing."

Setbacks in recovery are real. Rocco is living proof that relapse doesn't have to be the final chapter. Three years built. Thirty days destroyed. And now, rebuilt again.

Want to learn more?

What Is Teen Challenge? - Understand how the program works and what to expect.

Get Help for Your Family - If you're ready to explore options, we're here to walk with you.

Read Courtney's Story - Another life transformed through faith-based recovery.