GraceHouse Transitional Ministries, Inc., [84-1756799]
is a North Carolina Not-For-Profit Corporation that received its 501(c)(3) designation as a public charity from the IRS effective June 4, 2019, but our story began two years earlier, when, on June 23, 2017, I was released from prison, after serving 14 years, and welcomed into the original "GraceHouse" in Durham, North Carolina.
This first home was lovingly purchased, renovated and made into a transitional guesthouse to receive post-release inmates, like myself, who were returning to our area communities by a retired couple and volunteers from area churches, who collectively felt led of the Lord (Jesus Christ) to help us re-enter society successfully and not return to prison as many, unfortunately, do both here in NC and throughout our country every day.
It is to this first home that I found myself post-release and from which, by the Grace of God, I thrived; first as a resident, then as house manager, and ultimately as Director of the transitional programs offered here today. Over these past three years, we've seen an 82+% success rate in our graduates who have overcome incarceration to become empowered citizens that give back to the communities they once took from as quality members of it. In addition, our in-house Biblical-reconciliation ministries have been successfully restoring families and their relationships, with several graduates now paying forward what they've received here into the lives of others like themselves.
Truly we are disciples making disciples as our Lord has called us to do...
For I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me.’
To Do Well, While Doing Good™ is the heart of our message and Jesus is its soul. We are unabashedly a Judeo-Christian based program, for no amount of money, time, nor worldly counselling is effective in the waking of an unchanged heart. As such, we accept no government funding and rely on free market capitalism and donations to support all we do here. We do this by operating ecommerce stores, as an authorized re-seller on Amazon, and through our own web-based portals, which collectively provide quality products at fair prices that support our collective outreach through GraceHouse Transitional Ministries. [GHTM, Inc.]
As a formerly incarcerated citizen I saw the needs to be met firsthand both inside and upon release. Thankfully, I was mentored by and further welcomed into the transitional program I now energize as its Director, and have successfully expanded upon our impact and reach to meet society's growing need for transitional bridges that are proven to change lives and bring renewed hope to those who too often have none.
Together, we are a group of real people doing real work to impact the lives of returning prisoners like ourselves so that they too can reenter society successfully. In the past three years, by His grace we've grown from 1 to 6 properties; and, through our outreach initiatives we provide, in conjunction with community partners, access to job training, career placement, and counselling services which provide a functional bridge, not a handout, that empowers those we serve to productively rejoin in our communities and reunite with their families as we have successfully done.
In 2021, we seek to further reach out to the at-risk youth in our communities, as the child of an incarcerated parent is 80% more likely to become a prisoner themselves. In doing so, we seek to prayerfully help them to avoid the incarceration cycle all together and, with your support, to further expand our educational outreach initiatives to assist all young people in the communities we serve to lift themselves and their future generations out of poverty and end dependence upon subsidies that none of us can afford to be a part of anymore.
Won't you please partner with us today?
Be blessed and encouraged... we look forward to seeing you inside our community soon.
Robert Burr, Executive Director
GraceHouse Transitional Ministries, Inc.
1480 Chapel Ridge Road, Suite 100
Apex, NC 27502
Email: gracehouseministriesnc@gmail.com
