Finding new life AT CHAD’S HOPE Program guides addicts to clean living through Christ
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BY ANDREA AGARDY
en seeking help to break the whiteknuckled grip of addiction have a guiding light waiting for them in Clay County. For the past 14 years, Chad’s Hope has helped addicts find their way to productive, happy and substance-free lives.
The Manchester center is named for Chad McWhorter, who died of a drug overdose in 2004 at the age of 21. Following Chad’s death, his parents, Charlie and Virginia McWhorter, donated property to establish the recovery program. “His parents knew that he wanted to build his cabin here and raise a family,” Chad’s Hope Executive Director Steve May says, adding that the McWhorters turned the tragedy of losing their son to addiction into a beacon of hope for other families in similar situations. Students at Chad’s Hope participate in personal Bible study, one of the many programs offered at the facility.
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Nearly 15 years ago, May, who was a pastor at a local church at the time, began meeting with other area ministers to pray for a solution to the rapidly spreading drug problem. The ministersonly meetings soon grew, and shortly thereafter, a public march drew a remarkable turnout. About 3,000 people attended the Taking Our Community Back march. The event caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, who helped organizers secure a faithbased grant to construct the facility. “I look at it as the community’s way of dealing with grief,” May says. “There weren’t many families who weren’t either directly or indirectly affected by addiction. That was a very positive way for them to deal with their grief.”
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS Chad’s Hope isn’t a rehabilitation or recovery center, May says. It’s a discipleship program for men 18 years old and up. While secular rehab programs work to return addicts to a time in their lives before the drugs took hold, Chad’s Hope seeks to build entirely new people. “A discipleship program is complete transformation from where you were to a disciple of Jesus Christ,” Mays says. “In order to do that, you must know Jesus Christ as your teacher and as your savior. The Bible tells us that you’re a new creation in Christ Jesus, and that’s pretty much the sum total of our focus. We help these men focus on a new creation.” Chad’s Hope is one of more than 250 Adult & Teen Challenge programs nationally, and it is one of PRTC’s earliest Clay County customers. Those seeking help reside at the facility and are called students. They complete 3 1/2 hours of Bible study in the morning followed by vocational training in the afternoon. The center recently launched First Roots, a five-week program that gives students a chance to experience what life at Chad’s Hope is like. “Across the nation, there’s about a 50% retention rate,” May says. “Guys stay on after the five-week thing. That five-week program gives God the opportunity to work on that man and his Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative