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HOW IT BEGAN

Freedom Life serves justice involved individuals and their families with programs designed to help our clients begin a journey to a new life.

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FREEDOM LIFE: A BRIEF HISTORY

Freedom Life is a D.B.A. (Doing Business As) of Freedom Life Ministries.  It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry corporation born out of the prison ministry of McDowell Mission Ministries in Marion, North Carolina. The founder and current Executive Director, Danny Hampton, has significant experience when it comes to helping hurting people.  After serving in pastoral ministry for over twenty five years, Hampton sensed a calling to shift his focus from ministering in churches to ministering inside prisons. 

A CHANGE IN DIRECTION
In pursuit of this new direction in ministry focus, Danny Hampton joined the staff of McDowell Mission Ministries in 2010 and has served as the chaplain at the Marion Minimum Security Unit and assistant chaplain at the Marion Correctional Institution since that time. 

During his time as chaplain inside the prisons, Hampton provided in-depth pastoral ministry sessions with individual inmates while also providing hours of teaching each week ranging from Bible studies to facilitating the state program for training inmates in fathering and family dynamics.  He has worked with men in areas ranging from personal need, to grief counseling, to addiction accountability. 

In addition to his chaplaincy duties, Hampton also served as a case manager at the John Thompson Center for Men, a homeless shelter for men run by McDowell Mission Ministries. 

POTENTIAL AND NEED
While serving the needs of current and formerly incarcerated individuals through his capacities as chaplain and case manager, Hampton saw the potential and need to create an entirely new ministry corporation designed to specifically address the many unique needs of men and women who are currently inside jail and prison and also of those who are reintegrating back into the community from jail and prison. 

Hampton’s vision, and that of all those involved in leadership at Freedom Life Ministries, was in the beginning and still is today, that ministry focused organizational framework could be put into place that would seek to build an interconnecting support network of churches and other community agencies and organizations. 

This community support system is the backbone of an overall effort to provide help and support to men and women currently incarcerated, while also addressing the many spiritual and practical needs of men and women who have been released from incarceration.

A LOFTY GOAL

The goal is to help justice involved individuals discover new and transformed life that expresses itself in the ability to make positive and productive contributions to their families and their community, an also have opportunity to learn how to walk in healthy authentic relationship with God.

With the unanimous support of the McDowell Mission Ministries staff and Board, and the dedicated hard work and support of the newly formed Freedom Life Ministry Board of Directors, Freedom Life Ministries was born and launched into being in November of 2012.

In the fall of 2017, Freedom Life Ministries rebranded their name as the D.B.A. Freedom Life.  There was found to be another organization in the community called Freedom Ministries that people were confusing with Freedom Life Ministries.  Also, many people in the community were referring to Freedom Life Ministries as Freedom Life.  So, the name stuck.  We are now “Freedom Life”.

Hampton continues to serve as Chaplain and Executive Director.  Much has grown and changed in powerful and positive ways over the years, but the mission has and will always continue to be the same, helping current and formerly incarcerated individuals experience positive and lasting life change through the liberating power of Christ’s love.