CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) - For seven years, the Renewal Ranch has been working to reform addicts and help them regain control from drugs and alcohol.
On Saturday, May 19, the faith-based organization held a Rally for Recovery at the Conway Expo Center to raise funds and honor the more than 200 men who have graduated from its programs since 2011.
"I'm so thankful. Thank y'all," one man told the crowd of hundreds.
"This is what restoration is about. It's about bringing families back together," said another with his wife and son at his side.
Chase Moser is one of several dozen program graduates who took the stage Saturday.
"I spent about 14 or 15 years as a drug addict," Moser told THV11.
After trying other treatment centers and spending time behind bars, he found Renewal Ranch a year-and-a-half ago.
"They showed me how to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and from that relationship I found freedom from drugs and alcohol," Moser said.
In the last 9 months, Renewal Ranch executive director James A. Loy said the ranch has received more than 400 applications from men seeking treatment. Phase 1 of the center has a capacity of 35 men.
"We're just overwhelmed," Loy said. "The addiction is an epidemic in our communities and in this state."
Residents are given a place to stay, go through series of classes, attend chapel, and perform community service -- all at no cost to them.
"We tell every man that comes here we're going to love them and try to meet them at their point of need," Loy said.
Now, a year-and-a-half sober, Moser is spreading that love with others through his job overseeing a group of ranch residents.
"It's one thing to experience it in my own life," Moser said. "When I see week after week the same changes happen in another man's life when I see God restore a man's family, when I see him put together a marriage that was falling apart -- it reassures me that I'm right where God wants me."
Renewal Ranch is working to complete its Restoration Center which will add 22 beds to the facility, along with a commercial kitchen and teaching space. Click here for more information.