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The current environment

Little is being done to help people prevent some of their worst problems before their lives come apart, even though the world is full of hurting people seeking to break the “CHAINS” (compulsive habits, addictions, idols, negative self-talk) holding them prisoner.

  • Less than 10% of people with addiction or emotional issues get help, and effective programs are desperately needed to provide the encouragement, knowledge, and safety for people to take positive steps forward before their lives are torn apart.
  • There are thousands of treatment, recovery, and counseling organizations but little education or services focused on prevention.
  • Many people are busy, frustrated, or unable to find useful information in the clutter of conflicting and silo-based internet material.
  • People around those who are struggling may not think addiction can happen to them and be unaware of how bad the problem has become. They often don’t know what to do to help the person with their issues and, too often, they wait too long to get help. 
  • Every organization has people struggling with addictions and mental health issues but few have prevention programs in place.

Why STEPS Ministries Exists

Our Vision is for all hurting people to find help, healing, and hope.

Our Goals are to help people improve their lives, grow closer to God, and prevent addictions and other harmful issues.

Our Strategy is to help people live life better by being proactive and intentional, developing resilience and peace, and taking steps to achieve wholeness (emotionally, spiritually, and personally).

What We Will Do

Our Mission is to serve people effectively and efficiently by creating practical resources and education, communicating and sharing content in a repeatable and scalable manner, and reaching more people by collaborating with other organizations.

We will achieve our Mission by providing:

HELP through proven, practical content and training to help people become proactive in taking daily steps to live life better.

Intentional – Progress is possible by making positive choices and taking next right steps one step and one day at a time.

Instructional – Providing practical how-to content and easy-to-understand next right steps people can learn and take.

HEALING that is grace-oriented and effective to help people develop resilience and learn to deal with life’s challenges well.  

Inclusive – Healing is for everyone regardless of their past mistakes, because we’ve all been there too.

Integrated – Wholeness is found by aligning our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God’s will and values. This often takes a holistic approach, so we integrate principles from recovery, the Bible, wellness, personal development, and science.

HOPE that is life-transforming because it offers a realistic assurance of a positive future by helping people achieve wholeness with emotional well-being, spiritual wisdom, and personal excellence.

Improvement-focused – Providing hope for life enhancement, spiritual growth, and addiction prevention by offering useful solutions that utilize principles and steps that have been proven to work for millions of people over many years of experience.

Inspirational – This hope we share is encouraging, optimistic, and empowering as we thankfully pass on the grace and assurance our all-powerful God has given us to other hurting people.

How We Will Do It

We take a grace-driven approach of vulnerability and acceptance versus shame and judgment to help people take steps to:

  • Awareness – Understanding that we all have issues, but there is always hope.
  • Connection – Willingness to engage with others and be open and vulnerable with them.
  • Education – Becoming intentional and acquiring knowledge of how to handle adversity.

 

Our education is built on proven principles for effective living that help prevent addictions and provide many other benefits:

  • Greater peace and happiness with less worry.
  • Better relationships and less guilt from past mistakes.
  • Living more effectively with a focus on what’s important.
  • Becoming more productive and feeling good about our daily progress.
  • Developing a more positive outlook and a stronger sense of purpose.
  • An enhanced understanding of God’s direction for our life.

What Makes Us Different

We focus on the PREVENTION of addiction and other issues.

Prevention is helping people live in a purposeful manner, increase their resilience, and follow a holistic lifestyle that deals with the factors that lead someone toward addiction in a healthy manner before they reach the crisis stage.

  • We will apply many of the principles from the world of recovery, but we will package and deliver them earlier in the addiction cycle and in a manner most suitable for prevention.
  • Many organizations focus on recovery, but almost none are dedicated to a proactive and integrated focus on prevention.
  • We want every person to know how to detect the early stages of addiction, understand what they can do to prevent it, and be connected to people who can help them get through.
  • Other things that make us unique and different are that we:
    • Present a lifestyle that is integrated spiritually, emotionally, and personally to help people live life better.
    • Utilize proven principles which have worked for millions of people all over the world.
    • Deliver practical how-to guidance for daily living rather than only theory or psychology.
    • Present usable education and content in a way that is interesting and easy-to-understand.
    • Use a vulnerable and transparent approach that is grace-driven rather than shame-driven.

How We Can Be Successful

  • We utilize evidence-based and evidence-informed recovery principles that have worked for millions of people.
  • We have research-based methodologies that address the behavioral root causes of issues for life transformation.
  • Our training programs have received extremely positive feedback from those we have educated.
  • Our programs utilize proven techniques from the highly-acclaimed Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems, recognized by the US Surgeon General for evidence-based programs for workplace addiction prevention.
  • We have large amounts of proven STEPS content from our books, blogs, and training we can repurpose and reuse.
  • We have processes and content to scale (grow) what we do.
  • We have surrendered this ministry to God and will continue to do so on a regular basis.
  • Our Executive Director, Steve Ward, has broad training and experience that support execution of our mission:
    • He and his family have “been there” and have dealt with substance abuse, depression, and other harmful issues.
    • Degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech and over 38 years of successful business experience with IBM.
    • 20+ years of experience supporting nonprofits in planning, project and program management, and marketing.
    • Hands-on leadership, consulting, and strategic planning experience with both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
    • Published author of books and over 300 articles and highly-rated speaker, teacher, coach, and group facilitator.