John Fontanez has a story and I’ve been given the opportunity to help Tell it. Huge shout out to my high school classmate Linda Ley for this connection. Stay tuned for announcements on when John’s new podcast will be launching. In the meantime enjoy the 8 episodes of us building up the foundation for John’s Podcast. Here is John’s summary of this first episode. In the following conversation here is what you will hear.
“I am a father of two daughters ages fourteen and nine. I was married for nine years but went through a divorce in 2012. Shortly after the divorce I began to see my girls less and less and decided to file for joint custody. After some time, my ex-wife and I were able to come to an agreement and we now share fifty-fifty custody. We have a good, working relationship that places our girls first, ahead of our personal feelings and we co-parent in an effective manner.
It has been a long road to get where I am today and there is still much work to be done. I come from a very troubled past that includes drug addiction, violence, abandonment and jail time. I grew up in Camden, NJ and became a victim of the streets very early in my life. I made horrible choices that were detrimental to my well being time and again.
My family life wasn’t ideal, nor did I grow up in a loving environment. I was raised by an over-worked grandmother that had custody of me after a brief time in a foster home. My father wasn’t around having had a fling with my mom and then following on with his plans to join the Airforce and begin his family, minus me. So, my grandmother did the best that she could do always providing the essentials but lacking the ability to show affectionate love. I guess I began to look elsewhere and found a lot of what I was looking for in drugs and alcohol.
I first got drunk at the age of eleven with some neighborhood friends. Not long after I tried weed for the first time with these same friends. Weed became a daily thing and alcohol followed. I took to both substances like they were a natural progression into my teenage years. By fourteen I was dabbling in cocaine. I had older friends that were already in the drug game and used daily. As a result, I was using too. Then at seventeen I tried heroin, and though it took a little while to get hooked, I was instantly headed in that direction.
Around this time, I also got swept up in the drug game. I had dabbled a little in selling drugs, but now I was selling full-time out on a corner in broad daylight pushing crack. Most of the money I made fed my heroin addiction. At my worst I was snorting about a bundle a day. Ultimately, I was arrested several times for dealing. The first time I was given probation for three years. About seven months into that I was arrested twice more and was given a five-year prison sentence. I was nineteen. I did two and half years of that sentence.
While in jail I had a jailhouse conversation and gave my heart to Jesus. I was quite serious about my new way of life. I attended church daily and when I was released I joined a local church. The Pastor took me under his wing and I was happy to have a male father figure in my life. I didn’t realize it then but that is what I saw in him and I wanted all his attention. Obviously, he couldn’t give me what I required, and I became rebellious and ultimately left the church. I was searching for something I didn’t have growing up – a father and someone to love me. Soon after leaving I was back on heroin and that second run would last another five years.
When I was about twenty-eight I was arrested again for possession. Initially, I was offered a three-year sentence, but it was reduced to one-year house arrest and three years’ probation following. Around this time I met the woman that would become my wife and I made a decision to get clean. However, shortly after she became pregnant with our daughter I used heroin once more. After that time, more than fifteen years ago, I have never used again. Though the marriage ultimately didn’t stand the test of time, we have two beautiful daughters and they have never seen me struggle with addiction”

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