Meet the 2025 Life Change Program Graduates: Luis Alonso

From a young age, Luis battled pressure to start using drugs by a group of people who he says were up to no good. From there, he let substances consume his life.

 He was so confused back then, he thought doing drugs was “happiness.” He was shot 4 times and almost paralyzed and he still didn’t learn his lesson.

 Drugs cost him a marriage, his sanity and left him separated from his family. He wanted to show his children he loved them, but in order to demonstrate that love, he knew he needed to change. “I needed help; my addiction came with a lot of destruction,” Luis said. 

 To hear Luis speak now about what he’s overcome is to listen to a man who was willing to fight his demons for the sake of love. Despite mental health struggles, what he calls toxic personality traits and long-term addiction, he humbled himself and admitted he needed help.

Now, he lets Christ guide his life and he is mending his family relationships.

After a year-and-a-half in the program, working through his anxiety and mental health challenges and going to court, Luis now has regularly scheduled time with his children and they stay with him every other weekend at the Eugene Mission. Luis says none of this would have been possible without the Life Change Program.

His patient and humble work on his character is starting to bear fruit: last Thanksgiving, his young son Andreas called him “Daddy” for the first time.

“Now, I have the opportunity to keep learning as a parent,” Luis said. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is patience – to be patient with God’s timing.”

Through all of his struggles, Luis has learned that God wastes nothing. All of his pain, heartache and poor choices have shaped him into the man he is today, who he calls a “warrior for Christ.”

Help us celebrate Luis and the other graduates of the Life Change Program! Come and show your support for a group of men and women who have worked through incredible adversity to come to a place of healing, authentic change and new life.

 You are invited to his graduation ceremony!

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March 7

6 p.m.

City First Church

830 Madison Street, Eugene