89. Unlucky – a Memoir; and the GOOD NEWS that We’re ALL Redeemable!89. Unlucky – a Memoir; and the GOOD NEWS that We’re ALL Redeemable!
This is Your Wake-Up Call
Kat shares a candid story of childhood abandonment, heavy addiction, homelessness and utter hopelessness, alongside the faith and hard work that helped him rebuild. The conversation focuses on doing deeper emotional work, engaging with support programmes and believing that everyone is redeemable.
55:59•18 May 2026
Unlucky No More: Kat’s Journey from Heroin, Homelessness and Hopelessness to Redemption
Episode Overview
- Substances are often a response to deeper pain; as Kat says, drugs and alcohol “generally aren’t the problem” but a way to avoid unresolved trauma.
- Simply removing substances without inner work kept Kat stuck in a cycle of relapse; meaningful recovery began when he accepted that “I was the problem.”
- Even at a point of absolute hopelessness, tiny shifts – like a single text and a free clinic – can open the door to life-saving support.
- Structured support through shelters, faith-based programmes and therapy gave Kat tools, community and accountability to rebuild his life.
- Kat’s story reinforces that change is possible at any stage, summed up in his reminder: “We’re all redeemable. We can all be redeemed.”
“We’re all redeemable. We can all be redeemed.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of just how far down addiction can take someone – and how far grace can lift them back up. This conversation centres on Kat, who shares a raw, unedited story that starts with childhood abandonment and spirals into heroin addiction by his late teens.
From early drinking at 10 or 11, to “16 felonies and 42 misdemeanors,” jail time, and multiple failed treatment attempts, Kat lays out the brutal cycle of relapse when, as he says, “I did no work… I just got the drugs and alcohol out of the way.” The episode is especially aimed at people in addiction recovery, their families, and anyone in faith communities who wants to better understand what long-term change really takes.
Kat keeps bringing it back to the deeper wounds underneath substance use – abandonment, guilt, shame – and the moment he realised, “Drugs and alcohol weren’t the problem. I was the problem.” You’ll hear about his time living in a basement storage room, panhandling to survive, praying to a God he didn’t even believe in yet, and reaching what he calls “absolute hopelessness”.
There’s dark humour in places – like his line, “Well, it’d be rude to say no,” when handed an eight ball as a tattoo ‘tip’ – but it never minimises the seriousness of his situation. The tone shifts as Kat describes a turning point in Denver: a text from his brother, a free clinic, a blunt psychiatrist, and then the Denver Rescue Mission’s New Life Program.
Step by hard step, he starts actually doing the inner work with therapists, chaplains, and case managers. Now a certified peer and family support specialist and housing manager, he shares how he uses his story, a weekly vlog called *Unlucky – a Memoir*, and his Christian faith to help others. His message lands simply and powerfully: “We’re all redeemable.
We can all be redeemed.” If you’re wondering whether change is still possible for you or someone you love, this conversation might be the nudge you’ve been waiting for.
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