Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: ARTS & LIFE

Jeremy Adams is a regular at the Denton County Jail like NT students are to Fry Street.

The 38-year-old founded Denton Freedom House, a religious organization in Aubrey that ministers to prisoners and performs community outreach.

The 15-bedroom home offers volleyball courts, a weight room and a library for men who are much like Adams was years ago.

"I came out of a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol," he said.

The ministry began in a house on Bonnie Brae Street in Denton. After it outgrew that location, the elders at Denton Bible Church, which Adams attended, offered one of its facilities to the organization. It has remained at its current location for the past three years, Adams said.

The house holds about 30 men coming from prisons and jails, street outreach and local churches, he said.

The ministry has a six-month program. In the first phase, the men have an intense discipleship program where they are introduced to the gospel, involved in curriculum, take classroom work and apply that to everyday life, said Corey Adams, 34, the interim director of the organization and brother of Jeremy Adams.

For the first six months, the men don't work outside the house. Instead, they do chores around the house and the community, Jeremy Adams said.

"It makes them feel like they are supporting themselves while they are here," he said.

After 180 days, the men can graduate and either move out of the house, begin an internship at Denton Freedom House or enter phase two, which offers supervision and accountability to make their transition easier, Jeremy Adams said.

The ministry also offers an intern program for those who decide to go into vocational ministry, Jeremy Adams said.

One intern, Steven Katsinas, met Jeremy Adams about four years ago on Fry Street.

"As far as drug uses go, I've done it," Katsinas said.

Katsinas, 23, called Jeremy Adams for help in September 2008. Denton Freedom House helped Katsinas restore his life and mend his relationship with his parents, he said.

With the help of organization, Katsinas hasn't smoked or drank in more than eight months, he said.

The men that come to live at the house do not have to be Christians when they arrive, but they must be open to the idea, Jeremy Adams said.

Unlike programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Denton Freedom House is not a conventional "program," Jeremy Adams said. It does not have any professionals on staff and is a spiritual program, he said.

"We want to raise these men up as men of God," he said.

For more information, visit dentonfreedomhouse.org.

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