Page 95 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2017

GIVING BACK changing lives
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photo courtesy of Home of Grace
Since 1965, the Home of Grace has been changing lives through their Christ-centered addiction recovery program.
Over the past 52 years, tens of thousands of individuals have been freed from their addictions with help from the Home of Grace.
The program began as the passion project of Reverend Bill Barton, Sr. in 1964. While pastoring a church in Pascagoula, he took 13 men to
a Christian recovery program for alcoholics in Tallulah Falls, Georgia, called the Victory Home. “He was inspired by what he saw there and in January of the following year,
he started the Home of Grace in
a donated trailer that was placed on 10 acres of donated land,” said
Clay Barton, one of Brother Barton’s grandsons and business manager at the Home of Grace.
On January 2, 1965, even before there was electrical power, the first men entered the Home of Grace in Vancleave. “My grandfather wasn’t ready but he told the men to come
on in,” said another of Brother Bill’s grandsons, Josh Barton, who serves
as Home of Grace executive director. “He went home that night and prayed the men would still be there the next morning.”
In 1967, the Home of Grace for Women was established in Gautier. The two campuses provide three- month housing in a safe and compassionate environment. Throughout the program, recovery
is divided into phases, each building upon the next and focusing on a specific goal. The success of the program has been overwhelming and is achieved through classroom work, individual and group counseling, work therapy, community living
and devotion. The Home of Grace recovery program emphasizes refining spiritual disciplines that will help to create a lasting effect on the lives of its participants.
The Home of Grace accepts donations to their scholarship fund through their website, over the phone and by mail.
Home of Grace
228.826.5283 www.homeofgrace.org
BACOT/MCCARTY FOUNDATION
A Portion Of This Sponsorship Goes To Support Our Local Charities Along The Coast
WWW.BACOTMCCARTY.ORG
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
December 2017 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 95