AKRON, AUG. 3 – “I was addicted to drugs, and at age 39 my life was a total mess,” Vince Taylor recalls.

Little could Vince know that he was precisely at the spot where God wanted him. And it was a good thing too, because Vince’s wife Nellie was searching for him, but for a different reason. Due to years of abandonment and neglect of his marriage, Nellie wanted to run Vince over with her car, literally.

“After five years of Vince neglecting his marriage and family, and also continuing to abuse drugs and living on the streets, I’d given up on him. I wanted him dead. But God hadn’t given up,” she says.

Vince began attending a Bible study at the Summit County Jail in March 1993. Two months later, in May, he was supernaturally delivered from both drug and alcohol abuse, That Mother’s Day, Vince went to First Apostolic Church in Akron. There he was introduced to someone he’d never known before, Jesus Christ.

“A conversion took place in my life,” Vince says. “This happened at the lowest point, and for about two years I was attending church, going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and learning that God had better choices for me, and a far better plan for my life than the one I’d experienced on the streets, doing drugs.”

After five years of separation, Vincent and Nellie reconciled. Both were attending Church of the Living Word, Soon, Vince felt a calling to help other addicts shake their drug and alcohol addictions, using Christian-based principles and the Bible as guides.

“The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are both Biblically-based,” Vince explains. “Dr. Bob Smith, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous right here in Akron, was a Christian, Bible-reading man. As my recovery continued, I felt the Holy Spirit calling me and encouraging me to reach other recovering addicts.”

Vince and Nellie next began what they called the F.R.E.E. Ministry, based on the Bible verse found in John 8:32 “..and the truth shall make you free.” They operated it out of Church of the Living Word. The pair helped addicts by attending 12-step meetings with them, and mentored them through the church.

From there, Vince and Nellie felt a call to make the ministry bigger. That’s how Better Choices for Life came to be. It is rooted in Deuteronomy 30:19, which reads “…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your seed may live.” (KJV)

“Better Choices for Life teaches the eight principles and 12 steps for the road to recovery from addiction,” Vince explains. “We work in a community of people who are committed to helping one another grow, both spiritually and emotionally. We confront the past, focus on the future, learn life-supporting healthy habits, and also learn to depend on Christ’s power to walk in freedom.”

Thousands of people have broken free of addictions due to the transformational work of Better Choices for Life, and the people who are part of its ministry. It is a Christ-based team effort that continues to change lives.

“When I saw God doing this work, at first I mistakenly thought ‘I must be doing something right,’” Vince recalls. “Then I realized that it was God, and it was God who also brought lots of people alongside us to help and who encouraged both Nellie and me to keep learning and growing so we could be more effective in assisting others.”

Now based out of World Harvest Christian Church in West Akron, both Nellie and Vincent attended courses and grew. Both have earned the academic degrees of MBC, or master of biblical counseling, and also completed a two-year ministerial training course. At the same time, they came along other Christ followers at World Harvest who joined in the ministry.

“We developed a teaching curriculum for the F.R.E.E. ministry to help recovering addicts, and Michael Davis helped us with that,” Vince says.  “Michael, LeDora Wallace, Ted and Victoria Young are also some of the co-laborers in the ministry with us now. Apostle Jerome Parker, his wife Dr. Barbie Parker, and Pastor Joshua Parker at World Harvest Church also provided tremendous support.”

Today, Better Choices for Life utilizes the curriculum and lessons of Celebrate Recovery which helps cease addiction, as well as hurts, habits and hang-ups.

“Celebrate Recovery has helped more than 1.5 million people over the past 25 years through its Christ-based programs, and founder John Baker himself is a recovering alcoholic,” Nellie explains. “The program has a four-part participant series of guidebooks. By working through the lessons and exercises found in them, addicts begin to experience the true peace and serenity they have been seeking, restore and develop stronger relationships with God and others, and find freedom.”

Here’s a link to the Celebrate Recovery website: https://celebraterecovery.com

REACHING OUT, ONE PERSON’S STORY

Most weeks will find Vince out and about as part of this ministry. One of the places where he’s welcome is the Summit County Jail. Supervisors there will refer addicts who are about to be released following short-term sentences to Better Choices for Life. Vincent and the ministry are also partners with Orianna House, a treatment facility which is dedicated to helping people triumph over addition and mental illness.

Another place Vincent frequents is Valor Court, a specialized Summit County Common Pleas Court. There are 40,000 veterans in Summit County, and some of them will return to civilian life with serious trauma – mental and physical – that might lead to their involvement with the criminal justice system. Valor Court helps give veterans access to mentors, programs, and treatments to improve their lives.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Susan Baker Ross presides over the Valor Court. A “confessed” recovering alcoholic herself, she praises the transformation ministry of Better Choices for Life and has seen it at work with some of the veterans she has referred there. Judge Ross spoke at the ministry’s 30^th anniversary banquet and fund raiser in June.

“We also have a relationship with a counselor at the Veteran’s Administration who is part of Valor Court,” Vincent explains. “We will get referrals from there, and other places, for recovering addicts who become a part of our recovery program.”

One such person is Carlos (not his real name). His recovery from a life of drugs and crime was only possible through Better Choices for Life. A resident of another state, Carlos began smoking weed as a teen living in a troubled neighborhood. He graduated from a military academy (best in his class) and joined the National Guard, but he was still addicted.

During Covid-19, Carlos refused to be vaccinated and was later involuntarily released from the National Guard. At the same time, he lost a well-paying job in Cuyahoga Falls. Soon he was out of money, and to pay for his rent Carlos robbed a bank. He was captured six weeks later, in December 2021.

“I was convicted and spent a month in Summit County Jail,” Carlos recalls. “I was still on weed, but because I was a military veteran I was then put on 36 months’ probation and placed into the Valor Court.”

Carlos wanted his freedom, but he couldn’t shake the addiction. “I could keep a job, I had to attend classes through Valor Court, but I didn’t want to stop smoking weed. I was addicted,” he confesses.

After an unsuccessful stay at a halfway house, he was caught smoking weed again and sentenced to 30 more days in jail. “Judge Susan Baker Ross told me if there was a next time, I would be doing hard time in a prison,” Carlos recalls. “I knew this was not the life I wanted.”

Anthony Williams, a counselor with the Valor Court, recommended Better Choices for Life and its Chayah House residential living program to Carlos. It turned out to be both a lifeline and a life- changing recommendation.

“I had seen Vince, but I didn’t know him,” Carlos says. “He explained the rules for being a resident of Chayah House, and I felt ‘I can do that,’ so I moved in there and began attending their regular meetings.

“Little did I know that meeting Vince and entering Better Choices for Life would change my life so much, for the better,” Carlos says. “I was the youngest guy at Chayah House and in the program, and I was very teachable. I began attending World Harvest Church, and there came across lots of people who really and truly cared about me. People there prayed for me to accept Christ, and for the Holy Spirit to come into me, and it was there that I came to understand God and to want a relationship with Him.”

Through Vince Taylor, Carlos was able to obtain a full-time job with one of Better Choices for Life’s business partners. Today he’s off drugs and living successfully in a safe and loving place at Chayah House.

CHAYAH HOUSE – A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Several years ago, Vince and Nellie were planning to sell a home they owned on Akron’s west side. But they had also noticed a disturbing and recurring trends in the lives of the recovering addicts they helped. So did Bill Wilder, the retired director at The Way Out Prison Ministry, and Perry Clark (founder) and others on staff at a re-entry program named T.R.Y. for Truly Reaching You. The problem was a repeating horror story.

“We would invest in helping people out of addiction and into recovery, but at some point they would have to move back into and live in the drug-ridden environment from where they came,” Vince recalls.  “Nellie and I had put a triplex on the market to sell, and God sent us a clear NO to doing that. Instead, he wanted us to use it to help provide a safe place for recovering men.”

After much prayer and deliberation, Chayah House was born.

“We dedicated Chayah House as an independent living arrangement, a faith-based sober living program and residency,” Nellie explains. “Men can live there for 1-2 years after completing a recovery program. They must agree to sobriety screenings, continue to attend Better Choices for Life meetings on Friday nights, and follow regulations and guidelines.”

Chayah House has three units. It has been home to more than dozen people since it first opened in 2022. It has helped turned around many lives, including that of Carlos.

HOW YOU CAN ACCESS AND HELP

Better Choices For Life is a 501-c-3 non-profit organization. You can reach Vincent or Nellie Taylor by calling 216-626-5390, or emailing them at betterchoices832@gmail.com

If you wish to support the ministry, all donations are tax-deductible. Better Choices For Life has monthly ministry partners and corporate partnerships.  You can send a check or make inquiries to:

Better Choices For Life Inc.
PO Box 13633
Fairlawn, OH 44334