Phillip Bernard was sitting in a Pima County jail cell in August 2019 believing his life was over.
With a string of arrests and two prior theft convictions already on his record, Bernard had just been caught after being on the lam for a few months.
Now 32, heâd been struggling with drug addiction that started when he was 14 years old.
âI did a lot of things Iâm not very proud of,â Bernard said. âI put my family through a lot.â
Despite help through COPE Community Services, without a stable place to live, a job or sense of purpose, it didnât take long before he was back to his old ways. Yet as he sat on the concrete booking benches at the Pima County jail, Bernard knew something had to give.