Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Petruska.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Daniel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was young, I grew up in a very religious legalistic household. The school and church I went to told us how to look, how to act, what music we can or can not listen to, watching any movies not rated PG would have been an abomination. This environment didn’t give allowance to be who I was. Growing up on the Jersey Shore, a surf town very unlike the Jersey Shore TV show, I was just a short drive away from NYC. One night a friend asked me if I want to go to a night club in NYC called the LimeLight.
When I entered the LimeLight, I was consumed with the type of EDM music they were playing, the club lights and that everyone was dressed in fabulous clothes, dyed hair, and just that everyone fit in and could express themselves in their own way. I thought to myself I have found my home. That night I was introduced to the drugs LSD, Extasy, Special K, and Angel Dust; my life was forever changed. I felt like I found paradise. I dedicated the next ten years of my life living at night clubs, underground raves, selling drugs, and living out this new me. I worked at very exclusive bars and got to meet many celebrities. I felt like I had the dream life until one night I was introduced to heroin. I took one sniff of heroin, and again my life was changed forever. Except despite all the “fun” drugs I did, I now had sold my soul to a 24/7 heroin addiction.
After the fall, out of my addiction landed me in several rehabs and failed suicide attempts. The last rehab I went to was Teen Challenge in Florida. I was a broken freaking disaster of a shallow man. I thought I was broken beyond repair, and above all, this was a faith-based rehab. Great I thought more legalistic bullshit. It was the complete opposite. The people there loved me like truly. They accepted me even after all the crazy stuff I had done in NYC.
One night I was in a chapel all by myself. I was ready to run away again. Then the magic happened. I was standing there in the chapel; my heart was just breaking. I was crying uncontrollably, and then I just started cursing God out. I blamed him for my addiction; I screamed at him for letting my life fall apart. Then all of a sudden, I felt something I had never felt from God before. I felt wave after wave of love pouring into my soul. I felt him say, “Are you done yet” “Are you done running” “I never created you to live life like this” “If you let me, I’ll show you the true Daniel” So accepted his offer.
Since then, I have spent the last 17 years of my life committed to helping reach the broken, addicted sex trafficked person looking to find a home at 180 Ministres. I am now the CEO of three life-changing programs for teenage girls, single women, women with children, and men.
What makes 180 Ministries different than other rehabs? We will stop at nothing to show love to the seemingly unloved; we will relentlessly chase down the broken and abused. We will fight off the gates of hell to see people become shining bright stars. To become people with dignity, with dreams, and with a hope for redemptive future. No matter what ugly, seemingly unforgivable thing you have done, you can become whole again and find your true self. We are here to let the world know no one. No one is beyond repair.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We are in desperate time to keep scholar shipping students who can’t afford our programs. People can donate at 180ministries.net
Please tell us about 180 Ministries – Adult & Teen Challenge.
180 Ministries – offers three truly life-saving programs. We have a campus in Denver for men, a breathtaking orchard farm academy for ask risk teen girl near Salt Lake City, and a fantastic ranch for women and women with children program in Olathe CO.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I would never be the person I am today without the most amazing people that surround me. These people have been in the battle with me cheering me on for years. My staff is my family. They will stop at nothing to see people win in life. My friends Chad and Scott Bruegman, Gene Roncone, Shawn Johnson Brian Zibell, Andrew Matrone, David Bessey, Jason Gainz, Jota, Jim Burgen and so many other true heroes. Above all my wife, my soul mate Alyssa. I would be nothing without her.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.180ministries.net
- Phone: 303-985-1776
- Email: stayintouchwith180@gmail.com
- Instagram: 180ministries_303
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/180denver/
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