Residents must wake by 7 a.m. and be at work by 9 a.m. Because ready cash is a quick ticket back to drug use, residents cannot work for money their first thirty days. After thirty days, those who are ready will seek full time employment while still at the shelter. The men must observe a curfew, they do not smoke or curse and must seek permission to leave the premises. Last year Victory House took in about five hundred men and provided fifteen hundred with food and clothing. It has helped more than 60,000 men since it opened in 1992.
Hundreds are off the streets and in the workplace.
Soaries credits the program's spiritual content more than its regimen for its long-term success. Though men are not required to make a faith commitment to stay at the shelter, all must attend worship service Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. They must also participate in group prayer and counseling on Thursday and hold daily devotionals. I have no other answer to addiction than the Scriptures. Ed Lindsey is 40 years old and managed to fail at drug rehabilitation three times before coming to Victory House.