The Promise

Michael Runningwolf was living the life he loved, and he never wanted that to change. But after years of happiness, Michael was diagnosed with a severe mental illness – paranoid schizophrenia – that would quickly lay ruin to everything he had built and it wouldn’t stop till everything was gone. Quickly Michael went from school teacher, husband, home owner, business owner, coach, and a devoted member of his church to homeless, mentally ill, unemployed and an inmate in the psychiatric unit of the county jail. During his incarceration and many hospitalizations Michael experienced how the judicial system and society mistreated people with mental illness. The day he sat in a courtroom for sentencing he vowed that he would do everything in his power to help others and transform the system. After Michael was released he was forced to leave the city and state he loved in order to pursue better treatments. What he found in the American Southwest was not only a better system, but he also found understanding, support, compassion and love. Michael’s story is a story of turning tragedy into triumph, wrong into strong, and hurt into healing. His story is a story of hope, faith, love, endurance, and giving back. Michael shares his story with the goal of inspiring others to fight back when they have lost it all, to find the support they need, and to let others know they are not alone! Today, Michael feels his life is full of more blessings than he can count, and would never want to return to the life he had before. Recovery is real, and Michael’s story is evidence of that!