SAN DIEGO — He was known as a Los Angeles Lakers basketball star who was once married to a Kardashian.
Lamar Odom says a near-death experience from a drug overdose was the turning point in his life to make a change.
Now he says he found his purpose by opening Odom Wellness Treatment Centers across the country including three in San Diego County.
Wood and brick may hold the El Cajon house up on the outside but what's happening inside the home is laying the real foundation to keep it standing.
“This is emotional, this has been such a blessing,” said Jason Moffat, Project West resident.
The San Diego native was living on the streets in Boise, Idaho last summer. He moved back to his hometown to get sober at Project West in El Cajon. Moffat says he hasn't had a drink in six months.
“187 days,” said Moffat.
Jason says he knew Odom as an LA Laker star, but in the home, he's one of them.
“'I'm Lamar Odom, I'm an addict.’ They're like, ‘hey,’ it just brings me right back down to their level,” said Odom.
The NBA championship player is a recovering addict. In 2015, he survived a near-fatal overdose at a brothel in Nevada.
“I had 12 strokes and six heart attacks,” said Odom.
Odom says after that he vowed to help himself and others.
He opened five Odom Wellness Treatment Centers across the country. There are three recovery homes in San Diego known as Project West in El Cajon, Lemon Grove, and an all-women’s home in San Diego. There is also one in Louisburg, Kansas called Gold Bridge Odom Wellness Treatment Center and Wavelength Odom Wellness Center in Huntington Beach
“I opening rehab centers was just I guess, would be like an act of God,” said Odom.
He says his rehab centers and his New York Times bestselling book, Darkness to Light: A Memoir, have given him a purpose.
“I get more gratification and people coming up to me telling me that they read the book and it got them out of the dark so they can relate to it because they were drug addicts and they lost a lot. I get more of a good feeling than I did from people telling me how they loved watching me play on the Lakers,” said Odom.
But Lamar couldn’t do it alone.
“One thing that Lamar brings to the table is he understands what it means to be a teammate. So, we put a lot of emphasis on structuring ourselves to operate as one unit,” said Dontae Ralston.
Ralston is Odom's CEO of Project West, an El Cajon native, and a Christian rap artist.
He operated recovery homes, but it wasn’t until Odom stepped in and strengthened the program that it started to come together at 100 percent.
Ralston renovated the 4,700 square-foot home in Granite Hills that now houses 18 men in recovery.
“We have rules and visiting days,” said Ralston.
It's the last step before independent living and the average stay is nine months.
“They've either gone through detoxification, they've done intensive inpatient or outpatient in some kind of program. And now they're here in the sober living environment around other people that are sober and fighting in recovery,” said Ralston.
Moffat says the El Cajon home saved his life and helped lay his own foundation for a sober life.
“I get excited about who I can be tomorrow, who I can be next week,” said Moffat.
Odom says he hopes to open treatment centers across the world.
If the El Cajon homes receive state licensing they will be allowed to provide detoxification treatments for residents.
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