Miami Valley Today News

Recovery House Opens in Miami County

By Nancy Bowman

The new Joshua Recovery Ministries Inc. faith-based recovery home for those battling alcohol and drug addictions is a first both for Miami County and the 10-year-old organization.

The recovery home is the only one of its kind in the county and the first outside of Montgomery County for Joshua Recovery Ministries Inc.

The organization held an open house earlier this month so people could get a look inside the Troy house that will be home for an undetermined number of months for men willing to live in a faith-based, structured environment after detox.

The home will accommodate up to four men and an on-site house manager, said Matthew Ruemping, case manager. Stays are expected to last up to nine months, depending on the person, he said.

"This is our first house in this area, outside of Montgomery County. We are excited about that. This house will have three people pretty much dedicated to its operation to help the guys be successful," said Ron Will, executive director, Joshua Recovery Ministries.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 2008 and operates five of the recovery homes in the Dayton area.

Each applicant is interviewed to determine if the house is a fit for him, Wlll said. "We are looking for people who can go back into the workforce," he said. Referrals will come from the Miami County Recovery Council, the courts and others.

"We understand they come in with certain other issues that can be dealt with," Will said, adding that is why people including Will Alejandro and Diane Burgess are available for counseling. "They help the men understand who they are, and what makes them the way they are so they can become what God intended them to be," he said.

Space for the private counseling is available at the church next to the recovery home, whose building is owned by the church.

The Troy recovery house is being financed initially by private donations.

Wlll, who attends Ginghamsburg Church, said he was approached about the possibility of a Miami County recovery home by Steven Justice, a local attorney and member of Miami County Heroin Coalition.

Justice said the county, where the Miami County Recovery Council (MCRC) opened the Hope House, a place for safe detox in January 2017, was struggling to find a place for the men then to live in a structured environment after their release.

"We will fill that gap with the Joshua Recovery Home," Justice said. "It ... is expressly faith-based. If men do not want a faith-based approach to recovery, the Joshua Recovery Home will not be the place for them."

Thom Grim, MCRC executive director, said the opening of the Joshua Recovery Ministries was good news.

"We see this program as an additional resource in our community that we haven't had since MCRC closed the Kessler House (men's recovery home) back in 2014," Grim said. "We plan on working closely with this faith-based program to coordinate care for men who can benefit from this environment, whether they went through the Hope House or some other program in our agency."

The Hope House in its first year of operation admitted 63 people, graduating 33, or 52 percent, Grim said. The house initially was for men, but began admitting women in May. Of the graduates, 27 were males, six were females.

For more information on Joshua Recovery Ministries visit www.joshualife.org. For more information on the Troy house of Joshua Recovery Ministries, call Ruemping at 937-304-9507.