Blake Hammill with wife, Andi
Renewed Life Ministries, located in Christiana, Tennessee, has helped many men move away from their previous lives of addiction to lead positive, rewarding lives.
This ministry focuses heavily on continuing to provide support to the men after they get through the program.
“Renewed Life Ministries is a one-year-long, faith-based residential program for men struggling with addiction,” said Executive Director Blake Hammill. “The differential factor for men in this program is community. Most of our staff are in recovery, and we also have a lot of volunteers that come in and instill hope. There are also people who come in and help teach that the men grow fond of, and these people will be around for the mens’ whole lives.”
Hammill said Renewed Life Ministries started in 1995 in Cleveland, Tennessee, by a man named Basil Adams. Renewed Life Ministries is founded on Psalms 107:20, that God sent his word and saved humanity from destruction; and, the ministry is Christ-based, filling the men up with scripture because they believe, as Christ says, when you renew your mind you’ll be completely changed.
“Basil Adams wanted to start this program because he saw that a lot of guys were going into treatment, going into programs and getting clean,” Hammill said. “However, there was a missed opportunity because once they got out, they didn’t have any resources.
“They didn’t have jobs, they didn’t have skill sets, and they were missing out on life skills that they needed to move forward in the future, and so Adams started Renewed Life Ministries to fulfill that.”
Hammill said men are eligible for the Renewed Life Ministries nonprofit after they have gone through a program to detox. They are referred to the program through different avenues, including word of mouth, churches, community outlets and online. The men do not need insurance to participate in the program.
Participants have to pay $150 to enter the program (unless they do not have any money to start the program, in which case exceptions can be made). Then the participants pay $150 a week. They make this money by working while they are in the program.
Hammill said once they are in the program, the men start working quickly, which is why they need to be in a detox program first.
Once they are clean, they are screened to join and then Renewed Life Ministries gets each man a job. They work the whole time they are in the program, which sets this program apart from others. The men also live at the residential program for a year, where they are also provided with counseling, mentorship and group work. They also serve their community, helping individuals and helping through other organizations.
“We are teaching these guys that there is a discipline with what you can do,” Hammill said.
Renewed Life Ministries goes as far as not letting the men use nicotine products (they may taper the men off nicotine with nicotine patches).
Hammill said all the men get plugged into working with the company Sledgecraft, where they work on wood projects doing tasks like painting and cutting trim.
“We also do financial management, helping them do finance and making a budget, and we are also helping with case management—going to court with them, figuring out what kind of restitution they have to make and advocating through the courts,” he said. “In a year-long program, they are going to be saving up money throughout that year. We want to build their case so they can start paying off debts so once they leave this program they will, for the most part, be up to date with their child support payments, medical bills and such.
He said once men have been in the program for about 30 to 60 days, they start getting privileges like going out with their parents, and at 90 days they get a weekend pass, which he said gives them a chance to go with their families and have some healthy interactions, learn and then come back.
“We talk about this because a lot of triggers and lot of traumas are associated with families,” he said. “So we dig that up. All throughout this, the men are going to counseling and they have mentors who are speaking to them about all the life struggles they have.
“The men are constantly going through group sessions that involve life skills and recovery skills. We have several different pastors and people in the area speaking to the men with stories they can relate to. Sometimes that story is ‘I’ve been there, done that, now I am in recovery, and this is what my life looks like now.’ The men constantly need stories of hope because they are so new in recovery that they don’t know what they are capable of. They don’t know what opportunities await them if they just keep listening.”
Blake with RLMO graduate Scott Jackson
Also as part of a new policy just implemented, at about 90 days, Sledgecraft hires the men on from temporary placement. And then in six months, the men have an option to pursue a career of their choice.
“We know the job the guys start out with is not always going to be the career they want to proceed with,” Hammill said. “Not so long ago, we had a gentleman who decided he wanted to be an EMT, so we took him to all the trainings and did whatever we had to do to get him certified and take the test to become an EMT.”
Hammill is actually a graduate of Renewed Life Ministries himself.
“I started the program in 2013,” he said. “Even though I had some reasons I had to be there that I could have served time for if things had gone that way, I entered the program voluntarily because I knew that my life was a wreck. I had been addicted to substances for a very long time, and I knew I did not want to live my life like that because I knew it would lead to death.”
He said the continued friendships and mentorship with people he met in the program is what saved his life, and he did not want to return to former ways.
“I needed somebody to walk with me through all the initial destruction that I had done with my own hands, and show me a different way of life—a life of freedom, a life of joy and a life of purpose,” he said.
The ministry tracks how the men are doing after they complete the program; the success rate is over 80 percent staying free from addiction.
There are many ways to volunteer with Renewed Life Ministries including, to name just a few, bringing birthday cakes and holiday gifts for the men and attending events that benefit the ministry. The next event is a concert on April 22 at First United Methodist Church, 265 W. Thompson Ln. The organization also has a wish list on Amazon.
For more information about Renewed Life Ministries, for men looking for help, and those interested in volunteering, visit rlmo.org or call 931-716-0733.
