Lower Lights Ministries aims to help reconcile its surrounding community through relationships and leadership development. Based in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, Lower Lights is a Nazarene Compassionate Ministry center that serves its community in a variety of ways. 

Franklinton has the lowest life expectancy in Ohio, and 55 percent of the residents live below the poverty line. In 1991, Lower Lights began combatting the issues at hand in Franklinton. Two of its key ministries are Rachel’s House, a transitional living for women recently released from prison, and Lower Lights Recovery, a residency program for addiction recovery. 

Both ministries take participants through a series of specific programming as they stay at the houses, living together and creating a community under the leadership of house managers, who provide a “sounding board” for the women as they try to get their lives back on track. 

Abby Slingerland, a recent graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene University, is a house manager at Rachel’s House. She likened the role to a house mom or even a college resident assistant. In the end, it boils down to provoking good relationships and building authentic community.

“One of the main reasons why people might leave the program early or not continue in their recovery is bad relationships coming back,” Slingerland said. “Whether it’s an old boyfriend, toxic friendship or family members. It’s the connections with other people that either bring them down or build them up. So, a lot of the programming is working towards helping these women create their own community, a healthy community.”

Chrissy Johnson joined Lower Lights Recovery in 2018 after completing a 30-day detox. Johnson’s mother succumbed to her own alcoholism when Johnson was 20. From that point on, she was in and out of drug and alcohol abuse treatment. While at the detox program, she heard about Lower Lights and felt like maybe God was directing her there.

“From the first person I met when they interviewed me at detox, I knew this was where I belonged,” Johnson said. “I knew God was sending me in the right direction.”

When Johnson arrived, one of the first things she noticed was the community. 

“The one thing that I’ve learned here is that no matter what, we’re a community and we know how to build connection,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a place where community actually exists.”

Once in the program, one of Johnson’s goals was family reconciliation, but it seemed impossible. Her daughter never wanted to speak to her again. But once she saw what was taking place in her mom’s life, she began to get involved. 

“She even wanted to get involved and be a part of the church,” Johnson said. “Just seeing that and knowing that she wanted to be there [as part of my recovery], it just allowed me to know that I was going to be ok and to continue doing what God wanted me to do.”

Johnson graduated the program and has now become a house manager. Her daughter spends time at the house with the other women, as her own passion for the recovery community has grown after seeing how it benefited her mom.

“It really is relationships that either move you forward or pull you back,” Slingerland said. “Every part of the programming is to help them move forward and help them understand what that looks like.”