For as long as I can remember my religious faith has been a huge part of my life. I grew up attending misa - mass at la iglesia - church with my family. My mami taught us that church and family were always tied together as one. She wanted us to have a strong religious foundation and spiritual belief in God. I know that I can’t be alone in saying that as time goes on we can sometimes arrive at a crossroads and question what our purpose in life is or how does our faith fit into it all. Sometimes our questions are left unanswered and we struggle to allow our faith to step in and guide us.

Just recently I had been chatting with a friend of mine and discovered that there was an incredible story of a local Waxhaw, NC man. It is not every day that you hear about a person who leaves their high paying job in search for his purpose in life and reconnects with his faith. But on that morning the story of Charlie Petrizzo caught my attention and I felt drawn to share his story with others. I was fortunate enough to meet Charlie, his lovely wife Sandy and their special dogs. Charlie is founder of Project 2 Heal, located on 3 acres in Waxhaw, NC. It is a non-profit organization that breeds and trains Labrador Retrievers puppies so that they can be matched with children who have special needs from autism to cancer to Downs Syndrome and more.

Charlie’s life had not been easy. He experienced two near death accidents during his youth. The first occurred when he was 4 years old when he was hit by a car. The accident left him in a coma with brain trauma and paralysis. During this time his parents had given him a dog to help him recover and to be his companion. With the love and support of his family he had beat the odds and recovered.

Then at the age of 16, Charlie was working a summer job painting homes and was setting up an aluminum ladder. That ladder struck live electrical wires and he was electrocuted, resulting in burns on 70% of his body. Again, he was given a second chance at life and survived another horrible accident.

Both accidents left his body and spirit with scars and chronic pain that he still deals with today.

Charlie dealt with moments of depression and anxiety because he worried for so long that his appearance defined who he was. Charlie had achieved great success in his adult career but was feeling dissatisfied with where his life’s purpose was going. He had all the materialistic things that money could afford him and he was on top of the world financially. In 2005, Charlie’s mother passed away from an illness. His mom’s passing hit Charlie to the core. Charlie came to realize that his job was not making him happy and he was dealing with family loss and he knew things needed to change in his life.

Through prayer and meditation Charlie had finally found his purpose in life. That purpose was to breed and train Labrador Retrievers for special needs children. His story caught the attention of local producers of Episode 11 Studios who initially were hired to make dog training videos in order to raise funds for Project 2 Heal but the producers saw something else – something special and “Charlie’s Scars” the documentary came to life. “Charlie’s Scars” played at the Asheville Film Festival and was awarded the Jury Award for festival’s favorite documentary. “Charlie’s Scars” is being shown at the Epicenter Theatre in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, March 13^th at 8:45pm. This documentary is a story of Charlie Petrizzo, his work and more importantly how there is hope and forgiveness in people’s hearts.

Project 2 Heal is a non-profit organization that is fully funded through donations. Monetary donations can be made through www.project2heal.org website. They also accept towels and blankets for donations and love having volunteers to help out with puppy socialization. Special needs children are given a dog through Project 2 Heal. The Petrizzo family feels blessed to be part of each child’s life that has received a dog from them. If you have a special needs child and would like to receive one of these special dogs visit www.Project2heal.org and apply for a dog. There is an application process that Charlie personally reviews. To supplement their costs, Charlie is available for motivational speaking engagements, they offer few puppies for sale to loving homes and his book 7 Lessons for Healing the Hurt is now available for purchase at Amazon.com.

After meeting Charlie in person, I found myself looking into the eyes of a man that has truly felt the power of his faith and has come full circle in knowing what his purpose in life is.