There’s a moment in every rock-bottom story when a person decides whether they’re going to die there or fight their way back up.

For 45-year-old Jamie Scher, that moment came in a jail cell, alone, ashamed and convinced his life no longer mattered. Jamie grew up on Long Island and describes his younger self without hesitation.

“I was a heroin addict and I kind of just ended up homeless up there,” he says.

His mother, living in The Villages, moved him to Florida hoping he could get clean. He hoped so too.

I thought by coming down here, I would get away from it all,” Jamie says. “I figured I could run away from my problems, but they caught up to me quickly.”

“I was right back into my addiction and within a year I lost my job and even started stealing jewelry from my mom to feed it,” he

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