residents time to heal

Goal to serve more clients advanced with purchase of The Ranch in May 2022

They had a dream. To happen at some time in the future.

Then came that Friday night. For a couple of years, Lifeline’s board and executive leadership had been developing a long-term strategic plan to expand addiction recovery services for more people. They initiated many improvements – staff training, technology and programming – and dreamed of a new campus

designed just for long-term residential addiction recovery treatment. That was the dream. Until that Friday night. Executive director Ashley Miller, herself a 2014 Lifeline graduate, learned on that Friday night last February about a place that seemed like the dream come true. this piece of property was made for us.” Called simply “The Ranch,” the 46 rural rolling acres in Lovelaceville give Lifeline clients the seclusion and space needed for study and reflection on their sobriety journey. It includes like-new dorms, a chapel, commercial cafeteria and kitchen, transition living quarters, recreational space for family visits, and counseling and administrative offices. “Wow!” was board chair Steve Powless’ first reaction

when Miller sent him the video that Friday night, showcasing the property for sale. Within a week, Lifeline had secured a bank loan to purchase the property. About 50 men moved from the Morgan Lane campus to the Ranch in the summer.

“The Ranch allows us to expand and help more people,” Miller said. “It just encompasses our mission for individuals to be able to come out here from the darkness they’re in, the addiction they’re in. You couldn’t ask for a better layout for these men to recover and to get well in.” The Ranch was announced at Lifeline’s “Trusting God, Thanking You” annual banquet in August. Powless said the board had been following the advice of the late Cardinal Richard Cushing, archbishop of Boston, who said: “Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” With the Ranch dream happening so quickly, the board has turned to plans to pay for it and to renovate the Morgan Lane campus, originally a homeless shelter, to house more women than the 21 currently served on the Bloom Avenue campus. “Thinking about planning ahead and Noah’s ark, we recognize that it’s already ‘raining’ on the Bloom Avenue location,” Powless said. “Flooding is a constant threat, and size forces us to turn away women who need us; so we’re going to have to get busy on their ‘ark.’ ” Powless said many people at the banquet were moved by stories of Lifeline’s clients and the direction of the program. “It was humbling to see the number of people who came forward that evening, and after, looking for ways to support our mission financially or through volunteer efforts,” he said. “It has been remarkable!”

Continued support from our community will allow Lifeline to change the lives of more clients and their families, he said. “We want to get to the point when no one who wants to get sober is turned away.”

NEW RANCH ‘MADE FOR US’ A 46-acre ranch near Lovelaceville, developed a few years ago by an area church, features nearly-new facilities, such as dormitories, commercial kitchen, a chapel, office and recreational space, that meet Lifeline’s needs.

If you’re interested in helping Lifeline achieve its dream of helping more clients, see LifelineRecoveryCenter.org or phone 270.443.4743.

THE RANCH

46 acres in Ballard County Can serve 80 men

3,712-square-foot event center Dorms, classrooms, counseling and administrative offices

In-ground swimming pool and recreation areas for family visits 80’x42’ covered pavilion Transitional living quarters 6.858-square-foot cafeteria and commercial kitchen

2 large stocked ponds