January 31, 2024 |
John Tervort
John was born in American Fork, Utah but grew up in West Valley City. He was raised by his mom and stepfather along with his two sisters in a great environment with good morals and values. Despite his parents’ best efforts and the positive influences they provided, he started getting into trouble. As a teenager he started experimenting with alcohol and drugs. It started out as fun and exciting but quickly it turned into a full-blown addiction, with him ending up in jail 30 days after he turned 18. He was sentenced to prison for the first time when he was 23.
The next 20 years of his life was a vicious cycle of continued use and incarceration. He would do good for a little while, but just couldn’t seem to hold on to the positive lifestyle and stay consistent. February 10th, 2020, John found himself once again sitting in jail and on his way to prison for the umpteenth time. Tired and broken, he came across a Red Barn Academy flyer in his section of the jail. He wrote a letter and went through the interview process and was accepted to Red Barn on May 1st, 2020.
While at Red Barn he experienced working with Red Barn Movers and Sticky Bird, until he became the Food Service Manager full-time. He quickly found the key to his happiness was being of service to others. Given the opportunity to be in leadership, he eventually became a House Manager and started really liking the person he was becoming. At the end of his 2-year commitment he decided to stay a 3rd year, giving back to the program that changed his life. On March 1st, 2023, Red Barn offered John a position as a Program Manager. Today, John is the program director. John has the opportunity to reconnect with his 3 sons, his beautiful daughter and his 4 wonderful grandchildren. John has found hope and he is no longer defined by his past. He continues to be able to teach the students of Red Barn the tools and skills that were taught to him and lead them on their own journey toward reinventing their lives.