Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Faith-based recovery center aims to offer hope to those battling addiction

By Glenn McGlothlin
glenn.mcglothlin@gmail.com

Revive Life House is a faith-based addiction recovery center in Nicholasville that focuses on bringing men eighteen or older back into the community and reuniting them with family. Executive director Todd Johns founded Revive Life House in April 2016.
Johns said people suffering from addictions and substance abuse disorders need someone to believe in them and give them hope.
“Most of the time, these people in addictions just need to know that somebody loves and somebody cares for them,” Johns said. “We believe that God is a God of all people from all walks of life. People are people and deserve dignity and respect.”
Johns said the focus is on the individual and helping people where they are.
“Our motto is all about reclaiming the one,” Johns said. “I was that one at one point in my life. Somebody took the time to meet me right where I was and give me some hope and love. That really brought me to a place of faith and journey with Christ.”
When he was just a teenager, Johns said he struggled with his own addictions.
“I was a 19-year-old crack addict, suicidal, hating life, living on the street, couch to couch, and girlfriend to girlfriend,” Johns said. “But, by the grace of God, I’ve completely turned around. This marks my 19th year sober.”
Although Revive Life House is located in Nicholasville, its impact is found all across the state. Johns said clients come from all over Kentucky, with some as far as Paducah. He also said there have been several out-of-state men enter the program.
There are four phases to the one year plan for clients. The first is one month long and focuses on immediate care and treatment. It is in this first stage that clients break their addiction and begin to recover. According to Revive Life House, clients participate in 15 hours of treatment each week and 25 to 30 hours each week in positive recovery activities.
Johns said there are two phase-one facilities, each with 16 beds. One is in Nicholasville at 101 Richmond Ave. The other is in Lexington at 185 Elm Tree Lane.
The second phase is located at 111 Coconut Drive in Nicholasville and it continues to provide in-depth care, treatment and support services five days a week and case management once a week.
This phase goes beyond the initial one month and lasts for three months before clients progress to phase three.
The third phase aims to bring clients into a work-ready mindset for the next three months
“Our goal is to connect them back into the community through our partnerships,” Johns said.
Some examples of partnerships are GreenBox Heating and Air and Old World Timber in Lexington. According to Revive Life House, clients must work 40 hours a week and pay $120 each week for rent and utilities.
The fourth and final phase lasts five months and helps clients transition to sober living and more independence. Clients are still required to work 40 hours and pay rent, but no longer are required to do individual counseling and case management, although those are available at the clients’ desire.
Johns said most clients are admitted into the program but some require more care than Revive Life House can provide. In those cases, Johns said they redirect the individuals elsewhere for better treatment.
Johns said Revive Life House has experienced a 200 percent growth in the past two years.
“Coming into 2018, we had about eight full-time employees,” Johns said. “We closed 2018 with over 50 employees.”
In addition to the full-time workers, Johns said there are volunteers that help.
“We have pastors from our community that come in and teach Bible studies and help out with individual mentoring,” Johns said. “Typically, our volunteers do come from faith-based communities or churches.”
Volunteers also teach classes to clients. Johns said clients are walked through a nationally accredited program called Jobs for Life.
“It helps them have an understanding of work, purpose and meaning from a biblical perspective,” Johns said. “It also gives them interview skills and resume building writing practice. You can’t go anywhere in our literature, on our website or Facebook page and not know that we are not just a flighty faith-based program. We actually live it, mean it, breathe it and walk it. I just want people to know that we genuinely care for people and are giving them the best possible opportunity in life.”
There are challenges, yet Johns said he would do it all just for one person to be brought out of addiction.
“This is a grueling thing to do,” Johns said. “It’s so taxing, yet it is so rewarding to see families restored, men restored to their wives, men restored to their sons and daughters and men having dignity again.”