The Power of Possibility – Jason Cordell
October 7, 2026
Hello, my name is Jason Cordell. I’m from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Today, I’m in recovery. I’m also the father of three amazing children. And I’m a proud grandfather, with another grandchild on the way.
I have the privilege of working at Samaritan Recovery Center, where I get to walk beside people as they begin their own recovery journeys. When I look at my life right now, I see something I never thought I would have: I see hope. I see purpose. I see a future.
There was a time when I believed none of this was meant for someone like me. By the time I came to Dismas House, addiction had taken almost everything that mattered. I had hurt the people I loved. I had made choices I could not undo. I believed my past would always define my future. More than anything, I believed I was the problem.
Then, I came to Dismas House. For the first time in a very long time, I was surrounded by people who looked at me with love. They didn’t excuse the choices I had made. They simply refused to believe those choices were the whole story.
The greatest turning point in my recovery was therapy. For the first time in my life, I had a safe place to tell the truth. I talked about the things I had done. I talked about the things that had been done to me. I talked about the pain I had spent years trying to bury.
I learned something that changed my life. That recovery isn’t just about getting sober. That recovery is about healing.
Little by little, I stopped carrying shame as my identity. I stopped believing I would always be the man addiction had convinced me I was. For the first time, I began to see the person I was created to be. And that led to one simple realization: I mattered.
Those two words may not sound like much. But, to me, those words changed everything. For years, I believed I was someone people had to put up with. Someone who disappointed everyone who loved him. Someone who would never have anything to offer.
Dismas House showed me something I had never believed before. I wasn’t just part of the problem. I could be part of the solution.
When you begin believing your life has value, you begin living differently. As my life changed, my family began to heal too. Today I am present in my children’s lives. Their trust wasn’t rebuilt in a day. It was rebuilt one conversation, one promise, one day at a time.
One of the greatest gifts in my life is my grandson. He was born while I was incarcerated. I missed the first 3 years of his life. Those are moments I can never get back. But today, when he reaches for my hand he doesn’t see my past. He just sees his G-pa.
Now our family is preparing to welcome another grandchild. That is a gift I once believed I would never receive.
Recovery didn’t just give me my family back. It gave me a purpose.
Today I work at Samaritan Recovery Center as a Recovery Tech. Every day, I meet people on the hardest day of their lives. I recognize the fear in their eyes. I recognize the shame. I recognize the hopelessness. Because I remember wearing that same look on my face.
Now, I have the privilege of looking someone in the eye and saying, “I’ve been where you are.” Sometimes, before they believe in themselves, they borrow a little of my hope. Just like someone once shared their hope with me.
This isn’t just my career. It’s the greatest privilege of my life. I’m now working toward becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist because I want to keep walking beside people who need someone to believe in them.
When I think about the Power of Possibility, I think about people. I think about the people at Dismas House who saw value in a man who couldn’t see value in himself. I think about my therapist, Kim, who sat with me while I unpacked years of pain. I think about the staff who never gave up on me.
Because of them, my children have their father. My grandson has his G-pa.
And today, I get to be there for people who are beginning their own recovery journey because I understand what it feels like to need someone to believe there’s something more for you. That’s the Power of Possibility.
It’s what happens when someone begins to believe that maybe their story isn’t over. That maybe they aren’t beyond hope. That maybe they matter.
I am standing here tonight because Dismas House believed in me before I believed in myself. But Dismas House doesn’t do this work alone. It happens because there are people who believe that men like me deserve the opportunity to build a different life. People like all of you.
Your support gives men walking through those doors the same opportunity I was given, to heal, to rebuild relationships, to find purpose, and to discover what is possible for their lives.
I can never fully repay what was given to me. But I can spend my life passing it on.
And tonight, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you for believing in Dismas House. Thank you for believing in second chances. And most of all, thank you for believing in the Power of Possibility.
