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Bill remembers hearing those words the day he arrived at ERM. He didn’t know then that he would repeat them countless times over the next decade. He didn’t know that the Evansville community would change his life.

“I came to ERM looking for a bed, not planning to stay,” he recalls. Addiction had taken over his life. His friends and family had cut him out. “I was mad at the world and everybody in it.”

When Bill first met Tracy, he experienced radical love and acceptance. “He was so genuine. I could tell he truly had a heart for the people served here.” This helped open Bill’s eyes to the possibility of recovery.

In the program, Bill’s mentors shared Christ with him and led him through Bible study. “I don’t have words to explain how much it transformed me,” he reflects. “Five months later I was saved and baptized.”

“I’ve learned I have a desire to help people that I never knew existed in me.”

After completing his program, Bill joined the staff at ERM, beginning a new chapter in the same community that had helped him heal. “I love being able to help the guys to come in, find the root of their problem, help them overcome it, and watch them grow.”

Looking to the future, Bill feels blessed and hopeful, part of a community that extends beyond ERM. “I’ve lived in 26 states,” he says. “I’ve never seen a community that gives the way this one does. When ERM has a need, this community provides for it three- and four-fold and in a hurry.”

As he was promised on his first day, Bill was cared for, and things turned out OK. And with the faithful support of the Evansville community, he is able to share those words of assurance with others who walk through our doors seeking hope.

“My prayer is that our community and ERM continue to come together and find ways to meet the needs of the people we provide for.”

“I have a desire to help people that I never knew existed in me.”

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