The following is a contributing article from client Larry Walker who is a resident at Paca House, our permanent housing facility in Baltimore.

Integrity is important to me and my recovery because I think that falling back on old behaviors will not make you successful.

You get to a point in your life where you want something to stand on and integrity gives me the opportunity to have something to stand on.

It is important to me because people have seen me in my self- destructive drug habit and doing things that were disrespectful.

For me to get to this point where I am now, integrity had to be important because when I get up, I think about my behavior, my spirituality, the way I walk, the way I talk, and how that reflects on me as a person.

Every night before I go to bed, I do inventory and I reflect on my day because I want to be a better person for tomorrow. I know that the only way to do that is to be honest with myself. Sometimes we are not honest with ourselves.

When I go to bed, I think about the things in the day that were good and not so good for my integrity and I work on it. I can truly say that today my integrity is better than it was it before.

— Larry Walker, Paca House resident

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