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Effective Compassion: Christian rehab community offers women leaving prison a place to grow, spiritually and otherwise | Anthony Mator

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tears streamed from Jamie Hughes' eyes as the former drug addict and prostitute explained why she had to make a "pit stop" on the road from prison to freedom. The 32-year-old mother of four could have returned to her bad habits after serving two years for burglary, but instead of running to her old neighborhood, old friends, and familiar temptations, she chose to check into Rachel's House, a Christian rehab community in the city's west end.

Rachel's House gave her "direction in what I want to do with my life," Hughes said as she sat on the living room sofa in the house she shares with three other ex-convicts and one resident director. Far from impersonal or institutionalized, the place has all the makings of a home: cute refrigerator magnets, group photos, a computer, a painting of Jesus on the mantle, a copy of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life on a neatly made bed, and a few dirty glasses in an otherwise tidy kitchen.