By Marcus E. Howard

mhoward@mdjonline.com

MARIETTA - About two years ago, Joe Schmidt of Marietta had lost nearly everything and was on the verge of losing his family. He was homeless and found himself in jail at one point, which all stemmed from his alcohol addiction.

When his family gave him an ultimatum to change his life, Schmidt sought help at The Extension in Marietta. It's a place where those suffering from addictions have gone to change their lives.

"I had nowhere to go. It was either that or kill myself," said Schmidt, 46.

Residents can help others like Schmidt through The Extension's Christmas Ornament Campaign fundraiser. As part of the campaign, businesses, churches and schools in Cobb and Cherokee counties display special Christmas trees dressed with the organization's donation cards and commemorative ornaments. Donors can place money in the donation cards and leave them on the tree or remove the cards and mail them to The Extension. The donations will help serve homeless, addicted individuals and their families during the holidays.

One of the participating businesses is Canvas Cafe and Bakery, at 724 Cherokee St., near WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.

Canvas employs graduates of The Extension - including Schmidt - and is participating in the campaign for the second year. Co-owner Christopher Gatti said the seven people he has employed from The Extension over the past three years have gone to work each day with something to prove.

"I just feel like everybody deserves that chance," Gatti said. "There's nothing that these guys have done that I can look at and judge. Their problems, their sins, are really no different than ours."

Since landing a job at Canvas, Schmidt has worked his way up to become a supervisor. He said The Extension helped him to focus his life and become more responsible. It was difficult at first, he admitted, but he pushed himself through the program.

"There, they make you get a job, go to meetings, clean up after yourself, take care of yourself and feed yourself," Schmidt said. "They just showed me that there was another way to live; that you could change if you wanted to change your life, and things weren't as bad as you think they are. And there is a way out."

Jaysen Croft, 30, of Marietta, is another graduate of The Extension who found a job at Canvas about two years ago. He is now the general manager and will head a new Canvas restaurant opening in Savannah next year.

Alcohol, drugs and 10 years in and out of prison are things in his past now, he said. He was facing nine years in prison for probation violation when a Summerville judge gave him a second chance and ordered him to get help at The Extension. It was the first step in getting his life turned around. Croft is now married with children.

"When I first went in, I didn't go there to receive help, I went there to get the trouble off my back," Croft said. "But as I was there, I watched a couple guys transition back to their families. I got to see a judge sit in a room with them. Everybody cried. From that day forward, I decided I wanted to change my life."

Founded in 1987 as the Marietta-Cobb Winter Shelter, The Extension is considered the largest residential recovery program for homeless men and women in north metro Atlanta. It provides addiction recovery services through a comprehensive program for homeless men and women, outpatient counseling and various outreach initiatives.

There are 67 men and women presently receiving help at The Extension. More than 50 percent of those who stay in the program for 60-days complete it, according to the nonprofit. Of those, nearly 70 percent maintain stable employment, housing and sobriety during the following two-year transition period.

"A lot of people think we started this because drugs are a problem in our community. But that's not it at all," said Tyler Driver, executive director of The Extension. "We're not here because there is a problem. We're here because there's a solution."

To learn more about The Extension's Christmas Ornament Campaign and how to participate, contact Tina Jones at tinajones@theextension.org or call (770) 590-9075 ext. 309.