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Harmony Of Healing – Resources

Thank you to everyone who made Harmony of Healing 2025 an inspiring gathering! This was our second annual seminar that brought together community leaders, nonprofits, social service providers, judicial representatives, and private organizations—all united in a mission to support adults and youth facing addiction, homelessness, and other life challenges.

Held on the Heartland Campus in northeast Missouri, the event featured presentations, networking, and a vibrant resource area highlighting vital services available across our region. From incarceration and food insecurity to co-occurring disorders, mental health, and recovery, attendees had the chance to connect, collaborate, and discover new ways to make a lasting impact in their communities.

Here’s a quick recap of this meaningful day. We hope you’ll join us again next year!

All Sessions

Session #1 Heartland Ministries | Presented by Jacob Leckich

Session #2 Chaddock | Presented by Jeff Vancamp

Session #3 Kairos Hope | Presented by Dr. Eryka McMillian

Session #4 Preferred Family Healthcare | Presented by Shanna Baker

Session #5 Shelby County Cares | Presented by Jolie Foreman & Lillie White

Session #6 Women’s Prison Ministry | Presented by Bobby Godwin

Session #7 Broken & Beautiful | Presented by Dave Bonney

Resource List

Walking Through Recovery | Steven’s Story

Exit Interview, Recovery

Steven Wills, 36, from Kirksville, Missouri, has walked a long road of struggle, addiction, and redemption. Jail and prison became a recurring part of his story, but it was in a county jail that a guard named Jeremiah extended an unexpected hand. “Steven, you want to go home with me tonight?” he asked, leading him to church for the first time. Though the message didn’t take root immediately, it planted a seed. Eventually, after another prison sentence and the loss of his mother, Steven hit rock bottom. In his cell, he cried out to God, and Ezekiel 37:5 spoke directly to him: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again.” That moment marked the beginning of true freedom.

Heartland Recovery became the place where Steven found restoration. “Heartland has really opened my eyes,” he shares. “They gave me a better understanding of who Jesus Christ was.” Through mentorship, accountability, and a deepening faith, he finally grasped what it meant to be a new creation. While not all relationships were restored as he had hoped, his bond with his children has been rebuilt. “Dad, you got your smile back,” they tell him now—a simple phrase that means everything. His encouragement to others in recovery? “A year is worth it for your whole life.” If you’re struggling, take that step—plug into a community that will walk alongside you, be patient with yourself, and trust that God is working, even when you don’t understand.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, there is hope. Contact Heartland Recovery today and take the first step toward freedom.

Heartland Recovery E-Newsletter

Addiction Information, Recovery

One of our residents, who recently phased up in the Men’s Program, shared how close he came to losing everything. It started with a routine traffic stop. Instead of pulling over, he fled, and ended up in jail. Not long after his release, he was arrested again on a weapons charge, a Class D felony. Facing serious consequences and with nowhere to turn, he called Heartland Recovery. He didn’t want to come at first. The rules felt overwhelming: no smoking, no talking to women, and waking up at 5:30am. But, he came anyway.

Six months later, he’s thankful—thankful that God didn’t give up on him, and that Heartland didn’t either. A turning point came when he stopped blame-shifting…. Read more at Great Things Are Happening

Looking for more information about Heartland Recovery, or for ways you can partner with us? Use this link to sign up for our quarterly e-newsletter and info about upcoming events – https://hlandrecovery.org/partner-with-us/

Walking Through Recovery | Kris’ Story

Exit Interview, Recovery

Kris started using drugs at a young age, thinking it was just what the “cool kids” did. What started as experimentation quickly turned into addiction, leading him into a cycle of jail, probation, and parole. Eventually, he lost everything—his home, his family, and nearly his future. “I was tired of my life and ready to give up,” Kris said. “So I turned to God and tried something new.”

That decision changed everything. At Heartland Recovery, he found hope and a fresh start. The biggest turning point came the day before his 43rd birthday when he was baptized and fully surrendered his life to Christ. “Once I made that announcement, everything in my life started turning towards the better,” he shared. Now, with restored family relationships and a new purpose, Kris is attending Bible college and trusting God for the future.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, there is hope. Contact Heartland Recovery today and take the first step toward freedom.

Walking Through Recovery | Cody’s Story

Exit Interview, Recovery

Cody, from just outside St. Louis, knows firsthand that real change doesn’t happen until you decide to make it happen. “I had been what they call a habitual probation violator,” Cody admits. “I hadn’t dropped clean one time since 2019.”

That all came to a head on Valentine’s Day 2023, when he was arrested and spent 60 days in jail. It was there that he first heard about Heartland Recovery. A fellow inmate had a handbook, and as Cody read through it, something stirred inside him. “It really got me thinking that I needed to make some drastic changes, ’cause everything I had done this far didn’t work.”

At Heartland, Cody faced challenges, but those setbacks forced him to reflect. He realized that some of the “changes” he’d made were just surface-level. He had to truly commit. Now, he’s experiencing deeper relationships, restored family connections, and a life that once felt impossible. “God pulled me out of my mess and put me on solid ground. I couldn’t begin to count the blessings that I have today because of the choice that I made and that God impressed on my heart.”

If you’re stuck in the same cycle, feeling that deep longing for something more, don’t let pride hold you back. Seek help. Reach out.

Pagan to Promise Land: My Transformation through Faith and Recovery

Recover Out Loud

A Pivotal Moment: Entering Heartland Women’s Recovery Program

“Brandie honey, please don’t run. You just might not make it if you do.” These were the words that my mom spoke to me as she and my dad dropped me off at the Heartland Women’s Recovery Program in September of 2021. Little did I know the transformation through faith and recovery that would take place in my life during the next year; running away from my problems (literally) had been somewhat of a profession at this point in my life. Considering that as I looked around me that day and saw nothing but corn fields for miles and miles, I thought, “Well God, you sure know what you’re doing now don’t ya?”

The Heartbreaking Reality of Witchcraft

“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” Ezekiel 36:24-25

If someone would have told me something like this four years ago, I would have boldly stated, “There is no way in H-E double hockey sticks!” I was a devout pagan woman living a pagan lifestyle—a “green witch” more or less—consumed with crystals and stones that I truly believed were protecting me, message bamboo that helped me track down my ‘prey,’ and splitting the clouds with one command in order to view my gleaming boyfriend, Moon (yes, the actual moon in the sky). It’s true! Such a lost soul in a world full of utter destruction.

Being so engulfed in witchcraft and deception had turned my life for the worst. I know, I know, who would have ever thought so, huh? (Shaking my head as I look back.) As a pagan, you truly believe that you are the one in control of these deceptive demons, elemental spirits, or what some people may call a ‘god’, but the most heart wrenching part of it al, is that “they” are completely in control of you…some just don’t know it, yet. An evil bitterness engulfs you. That brings us our next verse…

The Life-Changing Power of God’s Word

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

Friends, that is EXACTLY what Christ did for me! Learning how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ (ex. praying and communicating with Jesus, reading the Bible, trusting in the Red Letters) changed my life completely! It molded my heart into something new and beautiful. I learned to trust and obey. My mourning was FINALLY turning into joy! I was able to give the Creator of the universe my life issues so HE could handle them properly and I laid my struggles at the feet of Jesus. I asked Him to take my burdens, guilt and shame (SO much shame) away from me, and then trust that He did!

Experiencing Transformation: A New Heart and Spirit

“And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:27

Say what?! Me, obey? The old me would have said, “No way.” Just ask those who knew me at the Madison County Sheriff Department.

But all praise be to God for His goodness and mercy! He did it! The LORD put His Holy Spirit inside of me and now I am forever “ruined for Christ”. (That is a good thing if you weren’t sure.) Being “ruined for Christ” is not about perfection, but surrender. It’s about continually giving your heart to God and letting Him lead!

A Call to Hope

Friends, if you or someone you know is struggling with life altering situations, please give Heartland Recovery a call at 573-633-5606 or visit the “Get Help” page this site so we can help guide you into a new way of life; a life with Jesus Christ at the center of it all. We are not perfect, but we do know that our God truly is!

Brandie Brown, HWRP Staff

To hear more of Brandie’s story of transformation through faith and recovery, click here for her video testimony.