Friends of Sinners (FOS) has announced it will receive a one-time appropriation of $1 million from the Kentucky Senate, and the money will go toward Phase 2 of renovating their new facility.
FOS is a Christ-centered substance abuse recovery program located in Owensboro. It opened in 2009.
According to a release from FOS, the nonprofit will receive the funds from the 2024 Senate budget application sponsored by Sen. Gary Boswell and supported by Rep. Suzanne Myles and Rep. DJ Johnson.
“The $1 million will be a pass-through from the Davies County Fiscal Court to Friends of Sinners,” the release says. “Friends of Sinners has been in prayer about how to finish Phase 2 of their new 17,000-square-foot facility that will become their new men’s facility.”
The nonprofit has spent close to $1 million to complete the first phase of the project and needs $1.2 million to complete the second phase, officials said. The ministry plans to completely move out of the old houses they are currently in on Clay Street and into the new location at 731 Jackson Street, which was formerly home to Arc of Owensboro.
FOS Executive Director Joe Welsh said their prayers were answered when he received a phone call from Boswell on Thursday.
Welsh said they are confident they can complete Phase 2 with the money, and they will start the remodel immediately with a goal of moving in completely in about 6 months.
“We couldn’t have done this or even dreamed of this without Senator Boswell sponsoring our application and the support of our local elected officials in Frankfort,” Welsh said. “They are the heroes of this story for us. It’s hard to raise money. We raised a million dollars on our own so far and that took us 2-3 years, so this is a huge win for us and the community we serve. We’ve been awarded some of the biggest grants in town this last year and we had no idea how we were going to raise another million dollars without something miraculous happening for us, and in my opinion that’s just what this is: a miracle for Friends of Sinners.”
Welsh said FOS can also now start to focus on Phase 3 and finishing the outside of the building, saying those are “some of the things that we want to do but weren’t a priority to get us moved in and fully operational at our new location.”
Once Phase 2 is completed, Friends of Sinners will sell its current locations on Clay Street.
