Peeler Passes the Baton to Continue Her Passion for Ministry

Terrye with Ashley Miller, Lifeline Recovery Center’s new Executive Director.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Vue

For 15 years, Terrye Peeler has been a woman on a mission – to offer a Christ-based recovery program for addiction – and Lifeline Recovery Center is what it is today because of her determination.

“I cannot imagine my life without this ministry,” she said. “When men and women come into our program, they are broken. A lot of them have lost everything. Before our very eyes, we get to see these people blossom.”

Where Lifeline is today is a direct result of Terrye’s leadership, integrity and relentlessness. She never quits. She’s given up everything for this vision. She’s an amazing leader.

-- Kim Jones, Former Volunteer Director and Board Member at Lifeline

Terrye at the marker in front of the men’s campus.

Terrye knows firsthand about their experience. She was addicted to alcohol from 16 to 44 when she decided, “I didn’t want to be that person any more.” She started her walk toward sobriety on June 6, 1999.

Then, in 2005, she began praying for and planning a program to help other women, after Lifeline began a men’s program. Ladies Living Free was born and soon merged with the men’s program.

For 10 years, while she worked in advertising sales at Comcast, she spent 10 to 20 hours a week assisting the program. She became executive director in 2008; after she retired from Comcast in 2015, she became the full-time director. She never accepted a salary for her work.

Last year, she began working closely with Ashley Miller to mentor her for the position, which Ashley started in January 2020.

Terrye at the 2018 Lifeline Annual Banquet.

“I had retired from Comcast, but this wasn’t retirement,” Terrye said. “I wanted to travel with my husband, but it was hard thinking about leaving.”

Finally, her pastor’s sermon on “passing the baton” struck a chord. “That was my sign. I knew it was time to retire. It’s been a journey for me to let go, but turning it over to Ashley made it easier.”

Terrye said Ashley, also a recovering addict, has the same passion for Lifeline that she has always had. “It’s not a job – it’s her life, just as it has been mine,” Terrye said.

While she is stepping away from a leadership role, she continues as a weekly facilitator for the women’s Christian living class and as a supporter. She is excited about Lifeline’s future.

“Our new leadership is taking us to the next level of growth,” she said. “My vision has always been that we could help more people than we’re helping now and not turn anyone away.”

And her rewards live on. “The greatest joy I receive is when I see a client or a parent out in the community and they tell me that Lifeline saved their life, or their son or daughter’s life,” she said. “They wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Lifeline, and they are doing great. Their family is restored, they are working and staying sober.”

That’s when Terrye can think: Mission accomplished.