JENNINGS, La. — Four men from Jennings said The Way Training Center helped them overcome addiction and live healthier and happier lives.
The Way Training Center, also known as 'The Way' is a Christian-based recovery center designed to help combat the growing drug crisis and aid those in need of support.
Celsey Edmondson said he turned to drugs as a teenager, shortly after a freak accident changed his life forever.
"I had a tragic accident happen back in '97 and I ended up on drugs for a long time," Edmondson said. "I was in and out of prison and when I finally had enough, a family member told me about The Way Training Center."
Edmondson said The Way is part of his testimony, a place where he and some of his friends from high school were able to get the help they needed to live a life free of drugs.
"The day after I got my high school diploma I got run over by a boat in Lake Arthur," Edmondson said. "I died 8 times and been through 19 surgeries within that month... God has a purpose for me."
Edmondson's friends, Jarrid Armentor and Damon Romero said they share the same purpose—a new opportunity to help people battling the same struggles they once faced.
Damon Romero said in the past, drugs took a toll on his relationships with his loved ones. But, now that he's clean, he said his life has transformed.
"It's also giving me restoration with my 18-year-old daughter, my mother, my family, my brother," Romero said. "My brother came through the program because he saw what it did in my life. My mom is also able to sleep at night."
Jarrid Armentor said he used drugs in the past as a coping mechanism for depression.
"We tend to try to fight life-controlling issues on our own," Armentor said. "We end up falling short. You need a support system around you. You need strong women and strong men of God."
The three men credit God and their mentors at The Way like Gerard Morgan, who they said helped get them out of a dark place.
Gerard Morgan works as the Director of The Way Training Center and said he too, knows what it's like to be addicted to drugs and what it's like to walk away.
"We house about 56 men right now at our facility," Morgan said. "Our [thrift] stores go 100 percent towards paying the staff and funding this ministry."
Now, with the help of a solid support system, Morgan said he's working with the city's Planning and Zoning Commission to purchase a new building in Jennings.
He said his goal is to open another residential recovery center for women, expecting mothers, and their children.
