He Had to Get to Omaha Paul struggled for years to overcome his addiction to crack cocaine. Today, he is drug-free and on the path to a new life. Paul came from Texas to Nebraska in search of freedom from his drug addiction. He found it, not where he expected, but at Open Door Mission. Today, he's drug-free and looking forward to a career helping others escape the pull of drugs. When Paul was a child, he and his three sisters lived in a succession of foster homes and orphanages. Their father was in prison, and their mother could not care for them. Paul says that he and his sisters were verbally and physically abused. A nightly ordeal Things didn't get any better when his mom remarried and brought her children back home. Her new husband was abusive, and Paul says, "My mom took the brunt of it. We'd wake up in the middle of the night to discover that he was assaulting her, and we'd have to run next door to call the police. That was pretty much the nightly ritual." Paul found escape in drugs -- especially crack cocaine. He also turned to crime to support his drug habit, and was imprisoned on a felony charge at the age of 18. After serving his time, Paul tried to straighten out. With the help of a Christian minister, he managed to stay off drugs for a few years. He got married, fathered a child, and had a good job.