Current and Former Resident Testimonials

I was admitted into JACH in December of 2008. At that time, I had very little motivation. I only had a part-time job and four months of being substance free. I wanted something more for myself. I began attending NA meetings every day. I started to attend church every Sunday. I began to build a positive network of people that I could surround myself with. I started with an NA sponsor, others that attended the NA program, and residents of the JACH organization.

After searching tirelessly for full-time employment, I finally have a full-time job. Six months later I was promoted to being a House Manager at JACH. I have seen others that were not serious about remaining clean and sober discharged for their negative behaviors. Seeing this made me try even harder to do the right thing. I truly appreciate where I live.

Today, I feel really good about myself! I have managed to create a life free of drugs and alcohol and have many positive people surrounding me. I know that not every day is going to be a good day. But, I have learned to keep moving ahead and to stay away from the ‘negative’. Problems generally find a way of working themselves out. I leave my problems now to my higher power- who I choose to call, God.

I would sincerely like to thank O’Mar. He has really guided me through some pretty tough times. When I was unemployed, he believed in me and I learned along the way that I couldn’t give up no matter how bad the situation looked. I’m thankful today that I didn’t give up on myself. I am proud that I have almost four years clean and can call JACH my home.

I was introduced to O’mar in June 2009, while I was incarcerated in the Durham County jail. I had been in jail for nearly two years. During that long two years, I was diagnosed with stage VI spinal and bone cancer. I had been thru a very rough time with all the necessary medical procedures and hospital stays. The State of NC was offering me a plea deal contingent upon supervision, but no one in Durham County would take a risk on me. Needless to say, I had a bad criminal history that was not working in my favor.

O’mar arrived at the Durham County Detention Center, along with a few other members of a criminal justice team. They arrived to interview me and possibly accept me into their transitional housing program. They accepted me and I transitioned into the house, June 2009. I was so grateful to be free and begin the process of getting my life back in order. Over the next couple of months, I had numerous appointments. It was frustrating at times, but O’mar became the person that I began to trust and I often vented my frustrations with him when I needed to. He was always there to steer me in the right direction with words from his heart, so that I could continue to live a positive life.

My stay at the transitional house allowed me the opportunity to form great relationships with the other men staying at the house. They accepted me for who I was and not for what I had done in my past. They did not judge me. I struggled for so long with not being accepted as an openly gay male, so finding true support and being accepted within the house meant everything to me. I wanted to stay free of drugs and alcohol and make a better life for myself.

In August, I was ready to transition into a less structured JACH location. I felt right at home again. The first few months were touch and go with trying to stay on the right track. There were several times when I thought about leaving in the middle of the night. I never did. The guys in the house continued to reach out to me and as time moved on I really began to see the results of the positive things that I was doing with my life. I began volunteering at a local non-profit, I was blossoming in my recovery, and I had a home that I was so proud of. I took great pride in the house always being clean and presentable. I loved cooking for the guys in the house, and our brotherhood quickly became an unbreakable bond.

I am a child of abusive and unbearable conditions. My home was always full of chaos. I learned at a very early age how to be manipulative, tell lies and use people for what I wanted. This was the only way that I knew how to live. Unfortunately, my childhood transferred into my adulthood and before I knew it I was a raging alcoholic and addict that was out of control.

In June of 2010, I left JACH to move out on my own. I know now that I was not ready for that move. After I left I was welcomed back again by my JACH family that loved and accepted me. It is an amazing feeling for an individual who has done so much wrong to have an open door, be given another set of keys, and hear the words ‘welcome home.’ As Oprah would say, it was an ‘ah- ha’ moment. For me it was a testimony of how Just A Clean House was more than just a business. They care for those who have resided in their homes, even well after they leave. JACH is truly about being a second family and for some, a first.

I have experienced so many good times while at JACH. From the Annual Family Day Cookout, many birthday celebrations (which are my favorite), O’mar deep-frying Thanksgiving turkeys all day long, and Christmas is just and all out affair with the beautiful trees, decorations, and O’mar and Karen buying presents for each and every JACH resident, every single year. 

JACH is about so much more than housing addicts and alcoholics. It is about giving us a critical part of a necessary foundation by providing a family-like, safe, clean, peaceful and stable home. I truly NEVER want to leave. JACH is the Ultimate Living Condition for me.

When I was released from prison in the fall of 2009 I had nowhere to go. Because of the life I had led before I had been locked up, no one in my family really wanted me to live with them. Just A Clean House was an answer to prayer first in the wonderful transitional house I lived in immediately after getting out, and then in providing more permanent shelter when I was ready to leave the transitional house.

But O'Mar and Karen gave me so much more than just a place to stay, they gave me a home. JACH is clean - not just clean from drugs and alcohol, but also clean from filth, from worry about having enough to eat, from concern about my stuff being safe when I leave to go to work. In so many ways JACH provides an environment that allows me to feel safe, comfortable and secure when I am at home.

In the JACH organization you are not alone, there is a team of people who want the best for you, and who are willing to go out of their way to help you if you are willing to make the effort to help yourself. I am blessed to be a part of this organization, and hope to remain a part of it for years to come.

Hi, my name is Rodney. I came to JACH on September 24, 2008. At that time, I was homeless and unemployed. I was confused and didn't know what to do. I contacted the Director of JACH, Mr. Omar Taylor. On that day, he met with me and gave me a tour of JACH, as well as a sense that I could truly make it on the other side.

 I moved in, got cleaned up and started making meetings. Odd jobs came and went. I struggled with staying clean and doing the next right thing. JACH told me to stick and stay, and most of all just don't use! It wasn't peaches and cream, but as time went on I managed to become employed and I kept making meetings. I went after my recovery the same way I went after my drug of choice- I went after it hard. 

Through this process, I have been able to go back to school and earn my CNA license, as well as a job within JACH organization, as a residential counselor. I am currently enrolling in school to become a substance abuse counselor. JACH helped me turn my life around in ways that I cannot explain. This is my story and for this I am truly grateful to JACH. 

​I transitioned into Just A Clean house from a thirty day transitional house here in Durham. I have been here for almost a year now. I do not know what I would have done without O’Mar. He has really helped me, so that I could learn how to stay clean and sober. I am now a house manager at a JACH location. I take my position very seriously and it has taught me how to be a responsible leader. This has been a life changing event for me. I do not know where I would be today without the JACH organization, the Taylor’s, and my housemates. Thank you for believing in me!

I came to the JACH Organization almost 3yrs ago on 1/3/2008. Being with this organization for 3 years, I've accomplished so much in the time that I have been here thanks to O'Mar. 

I have been afforded so many breaks you wouldn't believe. This was achieved by listening and allowing someone other than myself, to guide me with my thought process. I've made some decisions in my past that pretty much messed my life up. 

Approximately two years ago, I was headed in that direction. I remember calling Omar at that time saying that I was moving out on Tuesday. I remember Omar saying "it sounds like you are making a rash decision", I was. At that time, I happened to be unemployed and trying to juggle between rent and a cell phone bill. I was on the verge of making another decision one that I'm 100% sure would have lead me back to using. O'Mar asked me where 
I was. I was in Burlington, NC. at the time. He said 'as soon as you get, back give me a call'. That night Omar and I talked at length about why I was deciding to leave so soon. I explained to him what was going on and he began to give me some options. Thank God, I listened. I have seen many that have left premature and they ended up using.

I am proud that JACH has selected me to work as a mentor for others. I'm grateful for the opportunities and support that the JACH organization has offered me. Since my stay here at JACH, I've been divorced. I had a beautiful baby girl, whose name is Winter. I have relocated my Mom from NHCT to Durham, and just lost my Dad on 12/17/2010. I have done all this CLEAN! This is huge for me. This is the longest I've ever been clean. It is the longest I've been able to make some good decisions, with the assistance of others in guiding me with my thought process. 

Every day there is so much to do in this organization. There is not a day that goes by that JACH is not doing something positive. We call this Organization the Ultimate Living Condition. All of our houses are clean, our refrigerators are fully packed with food, our furniture is comfortable, all which assists us to maintain a good family setting. We have had some of the best guys in the world that are always smiling, just because they know all of our needs are being met at JACH.

If you are somehow reading this story, please give JACH a call, set up an appointment to see O’Mar and the Ultimate Living Condition.​​

My name is Rodney. I transitioned to JACH from the County transitional house on July 14, 2010. Living in the streets while in active drug addiction landed me in the Durham County Correctional Facility. I was tired of living that way. I was living in the grips of drugs and alcohol. After completing the STARR Program and finishing my sentence, I was giving the opportunity to jump start my life- clean on the outside as a resident at the CJRC Transitional House. I needed some structure, with the help of O'Mar and his staff, the process of recovery took it's course. He let me know that manipulating the rules and regulation that were set in place would not be tolerated, and at the same time he told me that he believed in me. I knew then that I was in the right place. By following suggestions, making meetings on a regular basis, more than a month had passed and O'Mar allowed me the opportunity to be apart of the Just A Clean House Family. I moved into one of the JACH locations. 

While living as a resident in JACH doors have opened for me. I was able to obtain my barber license and continue in my trade of being self employed. I'm currently employed as a full-time barber at a local barber shop here in Durham, where O'Mar is a dedicated and supportive client. 

After coming off the streets, jail, transitional housing to the JACH organization, I'm grateful of being a productive member of society. January 7, 2010, I will have nine months clean. It took me five years to get nine months clean. I'm grateful to still be a resident of this organization. 

Today, I continue to make meetings on a regular basis. I have a sponsor and sponsorship family, and a strong network with O'Mar and the JACH Family that's available to me at all times.

How My Recovery Began.........'One Day At A Time'

My experience with drugs ended me at John Umstead Hospital. I woke up in the suicide ward. When I arrived there I was suicidal.

I was referred to a recovery house in Durham, North Carolina. It was a six month program. I wanted help really bad because I was at the end of my road. The house that I stayed in was very 'unclean' and unorganized. The people were using drugs and allowed to stay in the home. I felt as though I was still using myself. I felt that this recovery house was all about the money, and nothing about 'staying clean'. This particular house did not attend NA or AA meetings, nor any NA related programs at all.

I heard of another recovery house named 'Just A Clean House'. The light went off in my head....It was God working in my life then, but at the time I didn't even know it. I decided to go and take a look at the 'Just A Clean House' one day. I will never forget the first time that I walked in the 'Just A Clean House' property. The house was very clean and organized, much to my surprise. The people there were friendly and I immediately felt right at home. I decided that day to move in. Just A Clean House offered just what I needed and was looking for. This house had rules and regulations. It also implemented the NA program, and it was mandatory. I desperately needed that!

The owner was very honest, caring, and helpful. I respected that. I completed my stay at 'Just A Clean House' from June 19, 2006 to December 19, 2006 by learning to live by the spiritual principals of being honest, open minded, and willing. Those values have now been instilled in me and I am living by them to this day. 

Today, I am coming up on two years clean and sober-June 19, 2008! Thank you to O'Mar, Just A Clean House, the NA program, and a God of my understanding.

Thanks Again to Just A Clean House, O'Mar and his wife, Karen. You're all doing a great job! Keep up the good work!

Love to you all, Phil

My name is Greg. I am an addict.

After using for over ten years and attempting several rehab programs (graduating a few), I never saw myself making progress as far as obtaining some of the thing that I had lost.

My last 'run' really took it out of me. After being up all night, my boss came to pick me up for work. I told him it was time for a change! He took me immediately to detox. While I was there, the doctors and myself were working on an exit plan, which included somewhere to live. After making a lot of calls with no

luck, I found that either no beds were available at the establishments, or the places had just gone out of business. I called Just A Clean House. 

Like most others, Just A Clean House had no bed availability, but they told me something different...."keep calling me back". I did keep calling until a bed became available. I have resided at Just A Clean House since that time.

My clean date is January 22, 2008 and I am starting to see the results of living a clean and sober life. Any addict can stop using and lose the desire to use. Today " I AM ANY ADDICT".

As a small boy growing up in a military household in New Jersey, I was taught that there are no second chances in life; and that nothing in life is free...

Hi! My name is Martin. I am an addict; a grateful recovering addict. My story is just like most other people. I started using drugs and alcohol at the young age of 12. No one ever told me that I was actually born with a chemical dependency. I mean, I didn't ask for any of this, it just happens that way! 

After 30 years of trial and error, many years of jail, institutions, and near death experiences, I finally found a place that I can be afforded the chance to recover from active addiction; a place I can finally call home.

About two and one half years ago, I met another recovering addict that was just like me. He reiterrated the message of hope and freedom from active addiction. That in itself got my attention! Then he took it a step further and showed me a clean modest house of recovery that included all of the things that I couldn't afford for myself. By this time, I needed not only a second chance at life, but I was somewhere in the neighborhood of needing a tenth shot at life. 

So my friends, if you have also been taught that there is nothing in life for free; that there are no second chances in life; I promise you that is as big a lie! You can be free from the active addiction and there is always a chance for change!

My name is Martin. I'm not only proud to be acquainted with O'Mar, but to also call him a friend today. I'm free from active addiction. I live in one of O'Mar's recovery homes, Just A Clean House. 

Please feel free to stop by and visit the best recovery experience I have ever encountered that has afforded me my second chance at life!

Hello, my name is Harvey. I am a resident of JACH. 

I came to JACH in 2007, transitioning from the Phoenix House. I felt right at home from the start. Being on the side of life through drug addiction, I didn’t have a lot of choices on where I could go. It seemed that every door always wound up being shut in my face when people found out that I am an addict and a felon. But, the door was open to me here at JACH and I was welcomed with open arms. 

After a few months, I moved on to pursue another opportunity. I took with me the experiences of JACH and eventually I wound up relapsing. After another bout with my addiction, I finally surrendered and rededicated myself to my recovery, and needing a safe place to continue my journey- I came back to JACH.

When I returned I was welcomed back home. I have lived in a lot of places, but there are only a few that I feel are safe and at home. JACH is on the top of the list. Here we are a family and that’s what a lot of us really need 'to feel and experience the sense of being a family'. 

I know that in my life, family was just something that I always longed for. People that care about one another, and others that are really genuine in their concerns for you. That’s what I get here at JACH. I am building life long friendships and learning about myself. JACH is helping me build that all important foundation of recovery that I will need when it's time to move to the next step. 

I know that I will always cherish the memories that I am making here today. JACH will always be home to me.

My name is Greg. Before I came to JACH I had no hope, no future, and could not stop drinking. Once I moved into JACH I started making meetings, talking with O'Mar and I started working thru my own personal pain. I started hearing a message of hope; which was if any addict wanted to stop drinking, he could certainly stop. I find myself being in the category of being 'any' and wanting to stop using.

I thank God for my time at Just A Clean House because it gave me the opportunity to work on me!

Today, my test has become my testimony. My fears have become my hopes. My dreams have become my reality.

Thank you O'Mar and family for taking me in and allowing me to grow.........

When I first came to Just A Clean House, I had nothing! I didn't even have the hope to achieve anything. However, my stay here has afforded me some dreams. I had lost everything, but now I have more than I ever could have imagined. My wife and I are back together. I am back at my vocation-preaching and teaching. I have my old job back. I have the respect of others, and respect for myself. People now have confidence in me, and I have confidence again in myself. I know for a fact, that if it were not for God working through Just A Clean House, I would still be lost.

God, I thank you for the Just A Clean House program and for bringing O'Mar into my life.

"Just a Clean House" has been the foundation of my recovery. Amidst the turmoil of battling my disease, the house was the only positive thing I had going. The house being clean gives some sense of organization to my life. The house being "drug free" speaks for itself; for that is the world which I had to leave behind.Now let me testify about the management who provides this safe haven for my recovery. First of all, it is the dedication and sincerity of this management in providing a place for the recovering addict to recover and create a new life for oneself. We call him the Ninja!!! He is relentless in keeping the house clean. That it is drug free and down right spic and span. Ninja refers to the how he pops up everywhere to fight for keeping the house clean. When you least expect him, he will be there. In my six months of recovery this dedication has been my foundation in staying clean, battling my disease, and making the transition back into society.

-God Bless Omar and "Just A Clean House"!!!!!!!!

I chose to regard all of my struggles in recovery as a process. A process that involves change. Alcohol and drugs were the single focus of my life for over 30 years until finally they broke me down. Broke me down to the point where I had no choice but to look for something bigger than myself. It was a long, hard, and painful process but eventually it broke me. I now view those years as a necessary part of my spiritual journey. I was like a seed. A seed that had been blown by the winds thru dry hot deserts for many years until finally coming to rest in fertile soil to receive the necessary nutrients to recover. I could not say enough about the importance of having a safe and clean environment that is conducive to recovery. Thanks to Omar and his Just A Clean House program, I believe I have found that environment. As a member of the 400 house , I am now part of something. Thanks to Omar I now have one of the most important aspects of early recovery, HOPE....

For the past seven weeks I have lived at JACH. I had two reasons for moving into JACH. The first reason was I had no place to live. The second reason was I wanted to stop getting high. The people here have been really good to me, and also good for me. They reach out to help me in any way that they could, and for that I will be forever grateful. One day I will be in a position to help someone else who suffers as I have in the past. I just pray that I will be able to bring as much joy into their lives as living in this house has brought to me. Today, I am almost three months clean. I cannot say that I owe all this clean time to this house, but I will say now- I can proudly call it home!

JACH was an answer to a prayer for me. I’ve been living at JACH for just three weeks now and it has given me the structure of a safe, clean environment that an addict needs. I feel better about myself because of the structure and love that I get from my housemates and O’Mar (the owner). It has been a great growing experience for me. I would suggest JACH for anyone who is truly ready for a new life. Anyone who is sick of their old pattern of life-searching for it in drugs which can never be found. ‘One is too many and a thousand is NEVER enough.’ This house is safe and we are serious about keeping it that way. So, I recommend it to those who are truly, truly ready. 

God Bless!!

I came from an Oxford House after a relapse. I had no where else to turn. I talked to my sponsor and he directed me to Just A Clean House. Since I have been in Just A Clean House, I have been clean and sober longer than I ever have anywhere else. I don't know what it is, but to me it is a better environment for an addict that is real about their recovery. Since I have been at Just A Clean House, I have been an Acting House Manager and now I have earned the title of House Manager. It has helped me in my recovery. I love the Just A Clean House enviroment and owners. They are great people. They believe in giving people a chance. If it wasn't for O'Mar & Karen, I don't know where I would be now. So I want to say thanks to O'Mar and Karen.

At Just A Clean House- It is just what it is; the house and people. I have found a safe place to recover. The brother's welcomed me just like I was family, and I also consider them family. Since living at Just A Clean House, I feel confident about my recovery. I have experienced living in an Oxford House and it does not compare. Since coming to Just A Clean House, I can concentrate on my recovery. I found a sponsor and found a nice home group. I thank God for O'Mar and Karen everyday.