The Embassy Coalition of Churches in Washington County, Virginia, is dedicated to supporting individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Our journey began with a powerful motivation: the lived experience of our founder with substance use, homelessness, incarceration, and trauma. This personal understanding drives our commitment to providing comprehensive care and support to those in need.

 

 

Stephen Wade, VDSS

 

"Since 2010, VDSS’ Faith and Community Initiative (FCI) has supported the Commonwealth’s faith communities in expanding their capacity to serve their congregants and their wider communities by:

• Connecting faith communities to VDSS resources;
• Managing communications and cultivating partnerships; and
• Providing substance use supports to faith communities.

 

Related to the third support identified above, FCI offers concrete supports like Recovery Ally training and connections to peer recovery services. However, to increase the impact FCI can have on faith communities — and, in turn, to increase the impact faith communities have on their congregants and wider communities — FCI has created the Faith Communities as Recovery Allies (FCRA) initiative.

 

This initiative is specifically designed to equip individual faith communities with the education, tools, training, and connections they need to become empowered allies in the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) recovery network in their community.

 

The goal of this engagement with Living Beyond Addiction (LBA) and The Embassy Coalition of Churches (The Embassy) was to pilot a strategic readiness assessment and planning process to arrive at a more concrete “proof of concept,” or model, which can then be used for wider implementation throughout Virginia to expand the capacity of faith communities to become recovery allies in their communities.

 

To that end, VDSS used the Community Readiness Model (CRM) as a tool to assess and support planning. This model was developed in the early 1990s by faculty at the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University. Inspired by two independent studies focused on prevention programs in marginalized communities, that team aimed to create a model that could answer key questions such as:

 

• How can a community’s level of readiness be measured?
• What methods can be used to ensure a program is both effective and sustainable?

 

VDSS used the CRM as the guiding framework to assess the degree to which the The Embassy Coalition of Churches as a whole, as well as its individual congregations, was willing and prepared to take action on issues related to SUD. 

 

VDSS continues to support The Embassy and LBA in its growth and development. 

 

For more information, contact Stephen Wade, Health Opportunity Special Projects Manager, VDSS at stephen.wade@dss.virginia.gov." 

Jared Hogston

My name is Jared Hogston, and I’m the creator and leader of The Embassy Coalition of Churches and Living Beyond Addiction Christian Recovery. Born from my own struggle with addiction, the loss of my brother and countless others to substance use disorder, homelessness, incarceration, and personal and relational trauma, God laid this ministry on my heart. For the past 2 years I have been leading a Christian recovery group with a Biblical curriculum I created. As an endorsed missionary with Send Relief I work locally with people with substance use disorder and the many facets of life that SUD impacts. For the past year, we have been working alongside VDSS in their Faith Community Initiative as Faith Community as Recovery Allies as one of 2 groups chosen in their pilot program. This work is what sparked my interest to create a coalition of churches. Currently there are five churches in our coalition and it is quickly gaining momentum. I envision a recovery friendly community that will boost the practice of recovery friendly churches and provide outreach to the least and the lost.

 

Erin Hogston

Hello, my name is Erin Hogston. I am married to Jared, and we have 2 teenage boys. We attend Rosedale Baptist Church in Abingdon, VA, where my husband hosts a weekly Christian recovery group, Living Beyond Addiction. We also teach children’s church, and have taught Awana’s children’s Bible study. My current life looks nothing like it did when I was in addiction. I used to be so overwhelmed with despair, that I was suicidal and chronically depressed. I self-medicated these issues through using drugs, alcohol, and through toxic relationships. Underneath it all was just a little girl that had experienced unfathomable trauma, just trying to cope. Those behaviors only compounded my problems. I tried time and time again to get clean and do better. It wasn’t until I found Jesus that I could truly find peace through the pain and heal. Today I am 4 & ½ years clean, married to my best friend, raising our son’s in church, and going back to college. God is faithful.

 

Bradley Bays

My name is Brad Bays and I am part of Living Beyond Addiction Christian Recovery and The Embassy Coalition and Churches. My passion for assisting those with addiction issues stems from my Christian faith and personal experience with active addiction and recovery. I believe in the power of Jesus Christ for long term recovery. This will last for all eternity as we are with Him. I am a member of Woodland Hills Christian Church in Meadowview, Virginia and also attend Bible Study Fellowship.

 

Matt Burke

My name is Matt Burke. I serve as senior Pastor at The Altar in Glade Spring. I am a recovery advocate that is seeking to learn more every day. I thank God constantly for his help on my own journey and always look for ways to help others along the way.

 

Andrea Birchfield

Andrea Birchfield is a Dayton, Ohio native having lived in Bristol VA for the past 30 years. She is a wife, mom, grandmother, and active member of the community. A former employee of United Way of Bristol, she connected clients in the community to resources for rental, utility, food, housing, transportation, and other needs. She is also a former substitute teacher. As a member of Greenfield Baptist Church, she teaches a ladies' Bible study. Her purpose is helping women become their best selves and experience a joy filled abundant life in Jesus. Her hobbies include gardening, cross stitching, watching THE Ohio State Buckeyes, and spending time with family.