Men and Women Struggling with Addiction Find Hope and Encouragement During Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge's Chapel Dedication

Chapel Renovation provides space for life transformation to happen, hardened hearts to soften, hope restored, and dreams renewed for those suffering with substance use disorder.

News provided by

Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge

Jun 04, 2019, 08:30 ET

REHRERSBURG, Pa., June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge, a faith-centered addiction treatment and recovery facility in Rehrersburg, Berks County celebrated the Dedication Service for their newly renovated Chapel.

Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge president and CEO Kris McFadden, Sr. reminded those in attendance, "It's primarily not about this beautiful structure, but it's about the stuff that happens inside this beautiful structure where life transformation is occurring."

Kris McFadden, Sr., president & CEO of Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge, Toni McFadden, and Bob Wummer unveil the plaque dedicated in memory of Sandy Wummer. Sandy was a Christian by faith and a huge advocate for recovery.

The vision of Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge is to bring wholeness to the hopeless. In speaking of that vision and the impact that the Chapel has had over the decades, McFadden directed the audience's attention to 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!"

McFadden spoke of his own recovery and how coming to the Chapel helped him find hope and wholeness. "This room is one of the main places where life transformation happens, where hardened hearts are softened, where hope is restored, where dreams are renewed," said McFadden. "Dreams were forgotten until we met the Lord, then we start being able to dream again."

Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge's Chapel renovation was made possible through the generosity of Bob Wummer and his family. Bob's wife Sandy, a friend of Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge was tragically killed in a car accident in the fall of 2017. The newly renovated Chapel was dedicated in her name.

Speaking of the Wummer family's compassion toward the attendees in recovery, McFadden said, "It's not necessarily about this project as much as it is about all of you who will experience transformation through this Chapel project. Bob and the family's main concern is all of you who are in this room."

The Chapel dedication was a special occasion. Over two hundred in attendance were joyful and filled with hope as they celebrated the new beginnings this Chapel represents. Vance, who is currently in Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge's long-term recovery program said, "It was truly amazing and very inspirational and gives me a new look of hope to be a new creation. I am truly blessed to be here."

Re-enforcing the importance of the newly renovated Chapel, Adult & Teen Challenge USA president and CEO Gary Blackard echoed McFadden's sentiments saying, "This is the most important room on campus." Then, speaking of the 20 million self-reported Americans who are currently caught in the grips of addiction, Blackard reminded the crowd that, "The Lord cares for each and every one of those souls."

About Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge
Founded in 1962, Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge, is a faith-centered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and a leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment center providing highly specialized services and programs. Its core mission is to restore wholeness to individuals, and hope to families and communities impacted by substance abuse. It provides an effective and comprehensive continuum of care to adults (18+) struggling with life-controlling addictions. This flexible continuum of care focuses on the medical, psychological, clinical, physical and spiritual aspects of one's recovery. By offering individualized treatment programs tailored to each patient's personal needs, circumstances, challenges and goals, it addresses the underlying pathologies that fuel the addictive process. Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge's approach merges medical and holistic care, providing a range of therapeutic techniques to nurture the whole person—body, mind and spirit. This comprehensive treatment model helps patients and their families reinforce recovery skills needed to lead fulfilling lives.

PRESS CONTACT: Steve Thurston
Phone: 484.639.7480
Email: [email protected]
Website: PAATC.org