HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (WTVF) — A Hopkinsville ministry is helping women in crisis live fuller, restored lives.
Grace and Mercy Ministries is a faith-based, non-denominational, nonprofit that offers home-setting and counseling services to women who have been abused, homeless or addicted to drugs or alcohol.
"We believe that these ladies, the drugs, alcohol, sex or food, whatever the addiction is, it is just a symptom of the hurt these ladies have experienced in their earlier years. So we go to the root, where the hurt first began," said Joanna Mack, founder and executive director of Grace and Mercy Ministries.
Since 2015, Grace and Mercy has worked to reunify these women with their children and families and to heal them from the pains of their past. "We take the best practices in counseling and social work and we marry them to the principles of the Bible, so it's a beautiful combination," Mack said.
In recent years, Grace and Mercy has opened a thrift store to support the program. One hundred percent of sales go to pay for the home and services. Here clients can volunteer, but it also provides women with clothes and home goods like furniture and kitchen items as they start over.
Jessica Luttrell is one of their success stories. She was addicted to drugs and spent some time in jail. She has since recovered and started college to become a social worker.
"I want to help women who've been through what I've been through and show them that drugs are not the way and leaning on the Lord is. There are people who will help you," Luttrell said.
Grace and Mercy is a minimum one-year commitment. They've helped more than 100 women move forward in life.
