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Substance abuse and addiction affects every part of a person’s life, from relationships, to finances, and even poor nutrition. It’s a tough cycle to break alone. When men are ready to seek help, Adult & Teen Challenge of the Four States in Neosho is there to offer support and education for men to recover and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Adult & Teen Challenge is a long-term, faith-based, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. It’s part of a network that extends to 260 centers in the U.S. and about 1,400 worldwide. Centers consist of programs for juvenile boys or girls, adult women or men, and participants with children. The Adult & Teen Challenge in Neosho welcomes adult men aged 18 and over.

“When men come to Adult & Teen Challenge, they’re at the bottom of the bottom,” says Kathie Lowans, food services director at Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho. “They’re addicted to drugs or alcohol and may be facing health issues, improper nutrition, unemployment, fractured families. They’re often in a dire situation, and a change needs to happen.”

Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho offers a path that Kathie calls life change opportunities. She shares, “We’re listed as a drug and alcohol treatment center, but when you offer people a life change, and they grab onto that, the addiction kind of just goes away.” Long-term residential treatment programs like Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho provide a structured routine and safe space that allows people to step out of the environment that exacerbated their addiction and focus solely on recovery.

The goal of their year-long curriculum is not just to get students off of substances, but to help them thrive on their own. The daily schedule at Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho includes counseling, classes on life skills and managing emotions, biblical studies, and work in the community. All of these services are designed to guide men toward healthier routines and coping methods.

Men at Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho live at the facility for a year before graduating from the program, which means the organization is providing food and services for up to 24 men, all day, every day. Kathie says, “Partnering with Ozarks Food Harvest is such a blessing. It helps tremendously to cut down on food costs. And travel costs this past year have gone up, so to have the opportunity for delivery is enormous.” Ozarks Food Harvest is proud to continue offering free delivery thanks to our generous donors, so that partner charities like Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho can continue supporting men in their journey to healthier lives.

Adult & Teen Challenge’s treatment program is changing the lives of men all the time. Kathie shares that, of the students who complete the program, 78% do not return to drugs or alcohol, 92.9% have no more legal problems and 92.5% become employed. Students who graduate have the option to become interns at the organization, and then even become staff. Other graduates go on to lead successful careers, and many develop the resources to help others struggling with addiction.

“Every single day I realize we’re making a difference,” says Kathie. “The students that become staff here are pouring back into the lives of other men. One man started his own non-profit whose goal is to get people into treatment centers as quickly as possible. We see them be successful in life.”

Ozarks Food Harvest is glad to provide food for just one piece of these men’s journeys, and we’re grateful to partner with Adult & Teen Challenge Neosho. To learn more about Adult & Teen Challenge of the Four States Neosho, visit their website at tc4s.org.