EL-based non-profit sees growth through pandemic – The Review

Josh Lytle, president of Family Care Ministries, shows off work in the basement of the Freedom Home in Chester. Contractors are filling in an indoor pool with rock and pouring a concrete floor. The room eventually will serve as housing for in-patient residents and up to 10 children at the Chester-based facility. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

EAST LIVEROOL The past year has been tough for the majority of non-profit organizations and charities, which found the majority of their fundraising events cancelled due to the pandemic. However, Family Care Ministries Josh Lytle said that slowly but surely things are still coming together as they continue to grow.

During a visit to the non-profits Freedom Home this past weekend, Lytle provided an update on the organizations efforts.

Not only is the documentary, Gateway To Hope: Overcoming Heroin, still reaching an audience through Amazon Prime, the pandemic has brought continued growth within the organization.

After graduating his first class of women from the Freedom Home, the five-acre, in-patient facility in Chester, Lytle said that he has started chapel services there at 6 p.m. Sundays to a standing room crowd.

Currently, the facility is hosting around 50 people in the living room area; however, the indoor pool area in the basement is being converted over to a room that eventually will host the Family Care Chapel temporarily until being moved to a freestanding building on the Freedom Homes campus.

The plan is to build a multi-purpose room on the property and then we will transform that (former pool area) to a housing area that can house women with up to 10 children, he continued. Our goal is to restore the family unit and keep children out of Children Protective Services. They also would be schooled here by a legitimate teacher.

In addition, a classroom space is being finished in a ground floor room that was a former sun porch, where Lytle said that the finishing touches (including hanging drywall and some painting) need to be completed.

Family Care Ministries also is looking at adding a mens center and community event center in East Liverpool and are looking at a variety of potential locations.

Lytle explained, We actually grew more in the last year under COVID. People are seeing the results of our approach and are backing it. I have very high standards, and I want people to know if they are entrusting me with their loved ones that they will be well taken care of.

Unlike many high dollar facilities, Family Care Ministries doesnt charge for any of its services nor is it funded through insurance companies or grants.

The only thing impacted by COVID negatively has been the organizations jail ministry, which has been brought to a virtual standstill by the pandemic. We have been in the jail ministry for 12 years, but COVID shut that down; however, our one-on-one ministry has continued to grow.

Family Care Ministries doesnt just deal with addictions but all around mental health.

Lytle hopes to teach that life is worth fighting for.

Everyone not just addicts has mental health issues. People are anxious, because they dont know what is going on due to the pandemic especially teenagers, he added.

Family Care Ministries is a 501(c)3, meaning all donations either monetary or in-kind are tax deductible. Those wishing to help out can visit http://www.seeinglivestransformed.com, where they can give an one-time or monthly gift to the non-profit.

The faith-based approach is just different, Lytle concluded. I believe that the success is that faith in Christ, as everyone wants to be loved and not rejected.

For more information, call (330) 368-0725 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays for information.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

See the original post:
EL-based non-profit sees growth through pandemic - The Review