Southern Indiana Living Magazine - May/June 2024

Making a Difference
“It was in 2018 that I found myself
to be a full-blown addict,”
said Ray Wiseman, the first
graduate of GRACE House’s
men’s recovery program.
The 43-year-old father of four
and former minister admitted, “I
did everything. It was mostly meth,
some heroin — the full gamut of
drugs, starting with alcohol.” It
all came to a head when he disappeared
for 36 hours. “I left my wife
and kids and turned off my phone.
No one could reach me. I did alcohol
and every other drug I could
get my hands on, the whole bit.”
Things are very different now.
He gives much of the credit to
GRACE House’s programs. “I can
face life on its own terms,” said
Wiseman. “I can lead my family.
My kids look up to me; consider me
a hero. GRACE House gave me the
tools to do that by providing a safe
environment to heal and opportunities
for leadership.”
GRACE House (GRACE
standing for Give Recovery A
Chance Every day) began as a vision
of Bill Mitchell, a retired teacher
and a community volunteer. He
saw the need after visiting with inmates
at local jails and reached out
to the judicial community, county
officials and church leaders. Planning
meetings began in 2017, he
said.
“A lot of churches, agencies,
county officials and community
leaders came together to make
it work,” said Mitchell. “There
wouldn’t be a GRACE House without
Hoosier Uplands and its CEO,
David Miller; the Community
Foundation of Crawford County;
Hillview Christian Church; First
Capital Church in Corydon; and
friends and family members of the
recovering addicts.”
The facility opened in 2018
with a six-bed women’s recovery
program that operated for two
years and assisted 30-plus women
before facing challenges from the
state concerning contract wording,
and the residents relocated to Genesis
House, a new women’s recovery
residence in Corydon, to complete
the program.
16 • May/June 2024 • Southern Indiana Living
Giving Recovery A Chance Every Day
GRACE House offers a place to heal
With the problem resolved,
plans for a men’s program were developed.
GRACE House opened in August
2021 and holds 10 men who
pay $100 a week. They find jobs and
are involved in community services
such as the Crawford County United
Ministries Food Pantry, where
they unload trucks and do prep
work.
The program operates from
three sites: the residential facility in
Marengo, which the county commissioners
lease for $1 a year; the
former bank building in Milltown,
donated by First Savings Bank;
and the former Marengo Wesleyan
Church, donated by the Southern
Wesleyan Association. The church
site hosts Narcotics Anonymous
(NA) meetings as well as Saturday
night Recovery Church services,
with plans to include transitional
living accommodations.
Although Wiseman was welcomed
back into his family, that
isn’t true for all residents. “Some
guys just don’t have any place to
go,” said Mitchell. “That makes
it hard for them to maintain their
sobriety.” The church will require
some remodeling, such as adding
showers, before it is resident-ready,
he said. “Eventually, we also want
to be able to hold some beds for
Story by Sara Combs
Photo provided by GRACE House
Pictured: The Community showed its support for GRACE house at a benefit concert featuring The Sound & Joseph
Habedank with Faith and the Hillview Worship Band.
emergency housing as well as 20
beds for transitional care.”
Some work has been done,
Mitchell said. “When the Wesleyan
Church closed, its appliances
and cabinets were distributed to
other churches, so those had to be
replaced,” he said. “And new cabinets
were installed by Tom Dennison
of Dennison’s Cabinets of Laconia.”
Wiseman’s story follows an
all-too-familiar path.
“I was working two jobs: one
at a church, another at a restaurant,”
he said. “I was under a lot of
pressure, facing the high expectancy
that goes with being ‘the preacher.’
It started with going out to get a
bite to eat after work, then an occasional
drink, and on to serious drug
use, progressing a step at a time.”
It came to a head with his disappearance,
Wiseman said. “I finally
turned on my phone and saw
a text from my wife, Jessie, who is
the true hero of my story.” The text
read: “I know everything you have
done. Come home.” He agreed to
meet her at The Healing Place in
Louisville, beginning his complicated
road to recovery.
“We lost our home, our car, everything,”
he said. “My family had
to move in with my parents, living
in their basement for almost two