Founded by Nancy Alcorn in 1983, Mercy Ministries is a free, non-profit residential program for young women dealing with drug and alcohol abuse, addictions, depression, eating disorders and unplanned pregnancy. Mercy Ministries accepts girls ages 16-28, and on case-by-case basis, girls ages 13-15.
Mercy Ministries is not a medical facility and cannot accept girls who need constant medical attention or who are at high-risk. The average length of stay is six to nine months. The length may vary based on a the amount of time it takes the individual to complete the healing process. Each girl signs a six-month commitment to the program and attends one hour of individual counseling and two hours of group each week. The treatment program is "designed to address the whole person, spiritually, physically and emotionally."
Mercy Ministries has three facilities in the United States located in Nashville, TN Monroe, LA, and St. Louis, MO. In addition, there are five facilities internationally, in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Auckland, New Zealand and Lima, Peru. Each of the Mercy Ministries facilities has an education director who works with residents to prepare their academic curriculum. The program provides life skills education, personal finance classes, GED preparation and exams, college preparatory classes, job application and interview preparation, computer skills training and continuation of high school curriculum via correspondence course work.
Although Mercy Ministries is not affiliated with any single church, organization or denomination, girls do attend church on the weekends, participate in Bible reading and other Christian based activities during the week.
Editors Note: The information used in this New Perspective was gathered from the Mercy Ministries website.