Frequently Asked Questions

Who are we?

Wisdom in Living Life Ministry is people helping people through biblical truth and by exhibiting transformed thinking and changed lives.  We are a faith-based, non-denominational, community resource dedicated to substance abuse prevention, training, and counseling, whose services are available to anyone.

What is our mission and purpose?

Our mission is to educate, equip, and empower God’s people to effectively reach those imprisoned by drug and alcohol addiction.  We are an alternative to the secular, disease-model approach to substance abuse.

What programs do we offer?

We offer counseling, training, advice, and guidance via telephone and Internet, at our training center in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, or at any requested location in the Upstate of South Carolina or the continental United States.

Do we charge a fee for the services we provide?

Yes, nothing in life is free and nothing of value is without cost.  The group services we offer are available for a free will donation.  Private services, such as counseling, are available on a fee basis in consideration of the ability of the recipient to compensate the ministry for costs related to the particular service provided.

Are we a 501(c)(3) organization?

Yes, we are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  All donations are fully tax deductible.

Is it true that homeless shelters already meet this need?

Although homeless shelters do a wonderful job helping homeless addicts, the percentage of addicts who are also homeless is miniscule compared to the great number of hidden, functioning addicts all around us.  Just think about that for a minute.  If your loved one were an addict and needed help, how would you feel about their placement in a homeless shelter?  When our Beyond Recovery project becomes a reality, we will finally have a residential facility to more effectively help “pre-end-stage” addicts overcome their addictions and move on with their lives before they become homeless.  Addiction is no respecter of persons!

Doesn’t Wisdom In Living Life offer the same program that some homeless shelters use?

Quite the contrary is true.  Most of the homeless shelters of the Upstate are using the principles developed by our president and founder, Winn Freeman, while he was director of the Greenville Rescue Mission.  The program developed by Mr. Freeman, Overcomers, experienced over a seventy percent (70%) success rate during his tenure.  The only reason Mr. Freeman left his position at the mission was to bring his successful program to the non-homeless community of the Upstate, those who also need it, but do not have access to it outside of a homeless shelter.

Are there private addiction treatment agencies that already meet this need?

Yes, there are, if you can get into them!  They are generally very expensive while success rates are very low.  Even the best of these programs cannot claim a sustained recovery rate of more than ten percent.  In addition, private and government substance abuse organizations generally support the secular “disease model” of addiction, which relegates the addicted to a life of support groups and 12-step meetings.  Wisdom In Living Life Ministry is a life skills training alternative to this approach. 

Do taxpayers fund this project? What does it cost?

Since we are a non-profit organization, our services will be funded on a nominal fee basis as augmented by private donations.  It will save taxpayer money through increased efficiency and effectiveness.  Costs will be offset by donations from businesses and community members willing to invest in something that really works!  Also, since all training and counseling provided are “non-medical,” great savings will make the programs available at a fraction of the cost of private care programs.  The Upstate needs this alternative!

What about those who cannot pay?

A separate donation program will be developed and maintained to provide scholarships for those who cannot pay the full cost and whose personal circumstances would be contraindicative of placement in a homeless shelter program.

Who is Winn Freeman?

Winn Freeman, the founder and president of Wisdom in Living Life Ministry, Inc., was addicted to alcohol and other drugs, principally heroin and methamphetamine, for more than 15 years before God saved him while in the back of a police car, changing his life forever.  While attending Bible College in Greenville, SC, Winn developed a drug and alcohol training program at the Greenville (SC) Rescue Mission.  Since its inception in 1991, and throughout Winn’s personal oversight of the program, more than 200 men from all over the United States graduated from the Overcomers program, maintaining one of the highest success rates in the country with seventy (70) percent of its graduates remaining free from alcohol and other drugs at least one year after completion of the program.  Subsequently, as director of the mission, Winn collaborated in a $3 million building project, allowing the Overcomers program to expand to meet a growing need.  Winn left the mission in 2000 in order to bring his very successful program to the Upstate community at large, not just the homeless population.

Who are our board of directors?

Jon Peery, the president of Peery Construction is currently serving as chairman of the board of directors.  Other board members include David Baxter, South Carolina Board of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, John Brausch, retried vice president of Stone/Umbro Manufacturing and former interim administrator of Greenville County; Ted Cochran, an Overcomers graduate and now director of operations for Homes of Hope; Captain John Gardner, long-time member and drug expert for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, now executive officer of the Travelers Rest Police Department; Paul Keck, local entrepreneur and director of Calvary Lighthouse Mission; Carol Keirstead, chief communications officer for Bob Jones University; Chip Sloan, principal of Greer Middle School (retired); and Joel Vause, president of J & S Investments.  

Who is on our advisory board?

United Stats Senator Jim DeMint; US Representative Bob Inglis; Jean Brown, Leadership Greenville graduate, Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce (retired); Johnny Mack Brown, former Greenville County sheriff, now United States Marshall for the District of South Carolina; Judge Diane Cagle, Greenville County chief magistrate; Robert A. (Bobby) Dobson III, Esq., president of Dobson Ministries, Elder Source Ministries; James Bannister, Esq., managing partner of the law firm Bannister and Wyatt, LLC.