About Us

My name is Eric Davis and I am a recovering addict. I am also a father, brother, son, friend, peer, professional, and student of life. I started using drugs at the age of 13 and found myself using everyday by high school. By the time I was 20 years old, I found myself in my first detox and treatment center. It wasn’t until 34 years old that I got clean. I ended up with a mental health diagnosis so severe, that I started drawing Social Security Disability by the time I was in my 20’s. As you can imagine, my suffering was on a grand scale and I didn’t think I’d see 30. When I came into recovery, my son had been born just a few years prior. I wanted to learn to forgive myself, and let go of all the shame, guilt, and remorse that was blocking me from moving forward. I didn’t have any custody rights to my son and my main motivation was to become a father. I got 2 years clean and petitioned the court for paternity without an attorney. It was around this same time when a guy pulled me aside after a 12-step meeting and said he thinks I’d be a good fit for a job, he worked as a social worker at a homeless shelter. His name was Jeff Gruver. I got that job, was employee of the month, received 3 promotions, and held 5 positions by the time I left that shelter. I was there 4 years. I am now a Director at another shelter. I’m finishing up my second college degree after this year. I have split custody of my son and I am proud to say that I am an amazing father. All of the suffering I endured for those 21 years has given me a gift; the gift of service to others. Since I was a small boy, I’ve always known I was put here to help others. I was going to become a change agent. I was going to help change this world for the better. We can change the world! All we have to do is truly change ourselves, and then carry our change into this world. Changes Healing Center is a therapeutic community that is peer run and peer led. We have the lived experiences between us to create a home that will enable others to fulfill their potential and live their dreams. That’s what we’re doing here, living our dream.

My name is Jeff Gruver, and I am a person in long term recovery. I grew up in Gainesville, Florida and found myself at my lowest point in 2010 when I became morally, spiritually, and physically bankrupt. I decided to make a change and find out just what I was running from. I am so grateful that I decided to do something different with my life and dedicate it to being of service to the community that supported me for so long. I have had a long and winding journey that got me to Changes Healing center and this is a little bit about what makes me so passionate about helping others recover. In my time seeking recovery I have run a 135-bed shelter, I have fought and sued the state of Florida for Voting rights of felons, I have had international news stations interview me, been in the New York Times. I have been part of Academic research panels, I have given best practices presentations internationally in the field of homelessness and housing first, and I continue to work in the field of human services as it is at the intersection of everything I am passionate about in social justice.. I operate within the parameters of best practices including Housing First, Trauma-Informed Care, housing-focused sheltering, and person centered recovery. It is hard for me to place into words just how much I love what I do; at times, it is the most complex and most challenging thing that I have ever done. Even though it is hard and thankless and often painful, I can think of no other thing that I would instead do in this life than help and support my fellow human being through the challenges in life that we all have to face. In this life the missing magic that supports recovery is community, this is what we aim to build at Changes Healing Center. So come support the dream of to starry eyed dreamers and disrupt the old model of what recovery housing looks like!