Our Results
Through the years Hand Up Ministries, Inc. has helped hundreds of men and women successfully reintegrate into society. After release, many are unemployed and without proper identification to seek employment and obtain stable housing the prospects are grim.
Hand Up Ministries Lighting a Path to a More Promising Future
“Let your light shine before others..”-Matthew 5:16
Empowering individuals through faith, support, and community.
Faith in action. Hope in motion. Together, we build bright futures, TOGETHER WE CAN!
OUR MISSION
At Hand Up Ministries, we believe in offering hope, dignity, and practical support to those facing life’s toughest challenges.
Grounded in faith, we help individuals rebuild their lives-spiritually, emotionally, and physically-through mentorship, outreach, and empowerment.
What We Do:
Faith-Based Mentorship
Personal, faith/spiritual, and career guidance for those starting over.
Transitional Housing:
Safe, structured environments for those in need of a fresh start.
Life Skills and Outreach:
Workshops, spiritual growth, and connection to community resources.
Stories of Hope
Lives are being transformed every day. Read the testimonies of those who’ve found hope, healing, and new beginnings through Hand Up Ministries
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Lawrence H.
I was released from Prison in September 2024; if it weren’t for Hand Up Ministries, Inc. I wouldn’t have had a place to stay. Hand Up Ministries is a great community with a great staff.
Calvin R.
Compared to where I came from life is great. Hand Up Ministries, Inc will give you guidelines and help you get your life back. After that it is up to you.
Dallas J.
Thanks to Hand Up Ministries, Inc. I have a roof over my head and an amazing job. Hand Up Ministries took me in when I had no place else to go. There are good people at Hand Up Ministries, and it is a drug-free environment.
Jason Brunelle
In was born in Honolulu in March of 1984, and I was the oldest of three children. I have one brother and two sisters. I didn’t know God then, and I bullied my brother and sisters. I wanted all the attention I wasn’t getting from my parents. I tried to be a big brother sometimes, but that didn’t work. I was constantly in trouble at school and at home. I ended up going crazy on my mom and a babysitter, so they sent me to a psychiatric hospital in New York. I was placed in foster care after what my dad did to me when I was mean to my little sister. We moved to a different house. I hurt my little brother, and I was placed in a group home. Then I was sent back to the same hospital where I was sent when I was younger. I moved to Oklahoma with my mom, and I misbehaved in school. I have been in the system my whole life. I started going to church with my cousin, and I began learning about Jesus. I asked Jesus into my heart. I started going down the wrong path when I was a teenager. I was having sex, using drugs and alcohol, and looking at pornography. I dropped out of school in 12th grade, but I went to Tulsa Job Corp, and I got my diploma and my driver license. I also studied computer repair and business office. I went down the wrong path again. I started chasing women, and I was arrested four times. God helped me keep a job for three years. I started going to church, but I went to prison the fourth time I was arrested. Something changed within me when I was in prison. I started praying a lot and going to church. I asked God for forgiveness for what I had done. I was baptized, and I served as an usher at church for eight years. I prayed God would help me get my life back together, and I applied to Hand Up Ministries. Hand Up accepted me, and I thank God for that. God delivered from drugs and pornography. If it wasn’t for Hand Up, I wouldn’t be here today.
Michael Sultis
My father was not in my life except in my early years. He was in the Army, and I saw my dad when he came home on leave. My dad left after my mom shot him during an argument. My mother would leave for two or three days at a time. She drank and gambled. I was left alone a lot of the time. I burned down our house accidentally one time trying to cook a meal at home. I didn’t know how cook.
I started getting into trouble with the law when I was about 14 years old. I spent a lot of time in and out of boys’ homes.
I went to prison for the first time when I was 14. I went to prison seven times, and the eighth time I received a 35 year sentence. I served nineteen and a half years. I didn’t know what to do to stay out of prison except to not get in trouble. I drank every day, and I would call an ambulance or firetruck every day to go to the hospital. A counselor at the hospital asked me what was really going on in my life. I told him I wanted to change, but I didn’t know how. He told me he found a place for me. It was Hand Up Ministries. We were excited. I met Ray Riddle, and he took me to Hand Up’s Chandler campus.
I was mad at first, but I started to settle in and turn my life to God. I slowly started to change, and the old me became a bad dream. I let go of my past life. I stopped being filled with anger and resentment. I always had the chance to leave Hand Up, but I did not want to leave. I help encourage others to change. I have a goal for my life, and I am slowly working to make it happen. God has shown me I have worth and I am forgiven. Now I spread the gospel to be a light to others.
Raymond Reagan
When I was 13 years old, I was tired of my mom’s drinking, so I hung myself in the garage. My friend found me and cut me down. I spent six months in a mental hospital. When I turned 16 I was emancipated, and I set out on my own. I stayed in school, and I graduated at age 20. My mom, my sisters, and I have always been very close. We gradually lost contact with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I met my wife when I was 20 years old. We had two boys and two girls.
I drank a lot through 14 years of marriage. I worked all of the time, and I was strict with the children. I got divorced after 20 years of marriage. I found love again, and I lived with this woman for 14 years. She had two teenage daughters and a six month old daughter when we met. I tried to raise them as my own, but they wouldn’t let me.
My mother taught me about the Lord at an early age. She read Bible stories to us, and we went to church. I went astray when I started drinking. I have always known the Lord was there.
Alcohol made me a different person, and it made me make bad decisions. I went to prison, and it felt like life was over for me. However, the Lord wouldn’t let me walk alone, and He carried me. Another prisoner told me about Hand Up Ministries. With the help of Hand Up, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hand Up gave me a chance to show I am not a bad person, just a person who was sick. I have been clean from alcohol for six and a half years. The Lord has done everything for me, including not giving up on me. He continues to hold my hand through the rough days. Without the Lord, I would be lost or dead. I say my prayers and thank the Lord every day for being with me and showing me the way. I also thank Hand Up for the second chance at life
Rex Sanderson
I was raised in the country. I had a good relationship with my mother and father. I have three sisters and two brothers. I grew up with all but one sister who lived in another state. My childhood was good. I didn’t care for sports, but my mother made me participate because she thought it would be good for me. I did not get along well in school because of being bullied a lot. I did not finish high school because I married my high school sweetheart when she became pregnant with our first child.
We were married for 29 years, and we had two sons and two daughters. I was raised going to the Assemblies of God church, but I switched to my wife’s church after we married. After two years of marriage I started to drink and use drugs. My wife cheated on me, but somehow our marriage lasted for 27 more years.
I started going to church again after our last child was born, but then I started drinking again. I continued to drink, and I struggled with alcoholism for more than 20 years.
I was still drinking when I married my second wife, whom I had met in a bar. We were married for two and a half years, and we separated when I found out she was cheating on me. I continued drinking, and I have never remarried.
My life spiraled out of control in 2023, and I committed a crime. I was sentenced to two years in prison. Due to registration laws, I became homeless when I discharged from prison.
The Oklahoma City Police Department gave me a list of approved places to stay, and Hand Up Ministries was on that list.
I applied to Hand Up, and I was approved after four months. I chose to go to Hand Up’s Chandler facility, and I have remained there. I am disabled, and I now feel safer. I like the church services and the Genesis One meetings. I get along with most of the other men here, and I help others when I can. God has put me in a place where I am safe and drug free. I no longer have the desire to use alcohol. I enjoy hearing God’s word here.
The men and women served by Hand Up Ministries often describe their release from prison as one of the most fragile moments of their lives-but also the moment when God met them through compassionate action.
In their written testimonials, former inmates share how fear and uncertainty were replaced by hope when they were welcomed with safe housing, nourishing meals, clean clothing, and loving support. Through practical assistance with employment, Social Security, medical care, and dependable transportation to and from work and doctor appointments, Hand Up Ministries becomes the hands and feet of Christ in a critical season of transition. As Scripture reminds us, "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge" (Psalm91:4).
These testimonials reflect lives being rebuilt on a foundation of faith-where grace, accountability, and opportunity come together to offer not a handout, but a hand up toward lasting transformation.
