RESOURCE: Freedom Life Ministries

Freedom Life Ministries is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry corporation born out of the prison ministry of McDowell Mission Ministries in Marion, North Carolina. Their mission is to partner with the community in providing aid and support that will help justice-

involved individuals turn the cycles of their past into opportunities for a new life filled with hope. They understand that individuals who have a criminal record encounter a wide range of spiritual, mental, medical, relational, and practical needs as they seek to transition back into the community. Freedom Life Ministries believes that no one can overcome the many hurdles and barriers faced by justice-involved individuals alone.

Freedom Life Ministries works with current and formerly incarcerated men and women. They support incarcerated individuals with a variety of programs and services including chaplaincy, special concerts and events, bible study, staff support, one on one mentoring, and fathering classes. For those reintegrating into the community, they provide case management, housing resourcing, transportation resourcing, job training resourcing, addiction counseling, and peer support groups to help them successfully navigate through the transitional needs and transformational opportunities of reentry.

Freedom Life Ministries partners with a number of individuals, churches, civic organizations, and companies to further their mission. Their current partnerships include Strategic Interventions, NC Career Centers, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, and McDowell Health Coalition. They have also helped to build a new community organization, called the McDowell Reentry Council, specifically formulated to address the needs, barriers, and concerns faced by men and women reintegrating from incarceration on a broad county-wide level.

Freedom Life Ministries states that “While some may say that these people have made their choices and deserve the consequences. For those of us who live in the faith of what Christ has done for us, we have a Biblical mandate to serve the needs of individuals who have been or are currently incarcerated. Christ, Himself said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Men and women living or reentering our communities who have faced judicial prosecution, are doing or have done their time. They have paid or are paying the price for their choices. Without a caring community to reach out and help them, as Christ has done for us, how can we expect them to live their lives in new capacity and direction.”

For more information, visit their website at www.freedomlifeministries.org