He Started on Cocaine at 10 — Deavon Davis's Road From North Charleston to Recovery

Deavon Davis grew up in North Charleston surrounded by violence, addiction, and loss. Both parents were addicts. He started smoking cocaine at 10 — before he ever smoked regular marijuana. By 13, he had crack cocaine distribution charges. He never made it to high school. He watched his uncle die at 12 — in his arms. His sons went into foster care. His oldest boy died at 13.

He tried moving away. Florida. Atlanta, where he earned a college degree. Back to Charleston. Greenville. But the streets followed him everywhere, because the mindset came with him. It wasn't until Deavon found The Way Recovery in Crossville, Tennessee that something finally shifted. He got baptized. The anger he'd carried toward God for years broke open. He surrendered.

Now Deavon is clean, working, and doing for other men in the program what nobody ever did for him: showing up as a genuine ear, a real shoulder. His word to anyone still in it: "Take me with you. You can't carry it by yourself."