As a child Abbad grew up with a very abusive father. His mother, the only supportive and dominant figure in this life, died of cancer when he was only 16. “I lost the only person who loved me in the whole world,” says Abbed, “the only person who had ever held me in her arms out of love and comforted me was now gone.” Soon after her death, Abbad’s father re-married and Abbad was forced to leave what was left of his family after his stepmother was intolerant of his presence. It was at this young age that Abbad started abusing drugs, and dealing narcotics and firearms for a living.
At the age of 18 Abbad was sentenced for imprisonment for the first time for 32 months, along with his older brother, after being charged with armed assault and the position of drugs. His second sentence was in 2012; this time he was sentenced for 10 years after being caught with illegal drugs and firearms and charged with assault as well.
His term at prison was not easy. Besides his addiction to drugs he was unable to keep out of trouble. After six years in prison Abbad requested to join a rehabilitation program at prison, which he catastrophically failed. He was moved to a different prison and there he continued the process successfully.
It was only until late 2020 that Abbad arrived to House of Grace after completing his drug-rehabilitation program. However, he still suffered from behavioral issues and required special attention and anger management counseling. Abbad lacked basic social skills and turned to violence and bursts of wrath by default the moment he faced any kind of challenge or stressful situation.
“As a child I had an abusive father and later on as a teenager I had a spiteful stepmother; I never knew what is it like to have a family or be in a family and receive support…” Abbad says, “House of Grace, the staff and the people here were all very supportive, I felt accepted and well-received.”
In the past 9 months Abbad learned to manage his anger, deal with frustration and challenges, acquired important social personal skills, and most importantly his self-dignity.
At the moment, he is still coping with many challenges. The relationship with his father had improved but his step-mother is another hard challenge for him. Having said that, Abbad is very committed to his rehabilitation. He recognizes he has anger and violence issue and is continuously working on his self-improvement.
When asked about the process he went through Abbad summarizes: “I realize now how my anger used to control me, but the family here helped me to cope with myself, with my anger, and feel loved for the first time since my mother passed away. I hope that one day I will be able to start my own family and give my children and wife what I never had in my old family but what I have received here.” House of Grace will continue to support Abbad and we are proud of him working to achieve his dream of a home. Abbad is now building a new house in his home city and hope to be able to start his own family one day.
