Our Mission

Our Mission, Our Story, Our Ministries, Your Hope!

Our mission is: To connect with Broken People, who with a Hand Up can find Hope for a Better Life. We spell Hope J-E-S-U-S. We believe Jesus sets the captives free. Captivity comes in the form of physical, emotional, mental, sexual, and spiritual bondage. A Hand Up Ministry specializes in working with men and women who are held captive in chemical addiction, i.e., drugs and alcohol. We provide a safe space and structured environment centered around Celebrate Recovery, bible reading, prayer, worship, fellowship, honest work, and a whole lot of Jesus. We aim to give participants in our program a new lease on life with a new set of spiritual and emotional tools and a growing relationship with Christ. The ultimate goal is freedom… freedom from addiction and freedom to be the sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers they were always called to be.

Our Story

The story of Hand Up begins with Rex and Tammi Mayo along with the Dade County community who saw a need and simply said, “Lord, here we are. Send us.”

The call: In 2016, a young man was coming out of incarceration. Through the Celebrate Recovery program he had found a new life in a man named Jesus. He realized he needed to travel a new road. The old one would only lead to the same things… addiction, heartache, and more incarceration. Rex, a pastor with a heart for the broken, recognized the need for the opportunity of Hope for a better life. He was no stranger to the justice system with 20 years working with various agencies in the state of Georgia.

The answer: Rex and Tammi along with their community made the decision to answer the call to stand in the gap for the needs of this young man brought to light. They came together looking for ways to provide help for broken men and women. Some of those needs were a place to go, a new way of life and a Hope for something better. Their willingness to follow God’s lead started something great by meeting a growing need for rehabilitation in the Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee tri-state area. More men and women continued to come looking for hope and freedom and they, along with their community, kept showing up to meet the needs. The Lord blessed their obedience, and A Hand Up Ministry was officially born. The 12-month, faith-based, residential recovery program now houses up to 25 men and women in two residences in need of a new way of life through Jesus Christ.

The future: The story does not end here. The Lord continues to grow the ministry with other offerings such as a hotline called the HopeLine for those looking for hope and help in life’s brokenness, a podcast called Hope Connection delivering stories of freedom from addiction, hurts, and other forms of brokenness and, of course, the Hope House Cafe serving classic dishes during breakfast and lunch in Trenton, Georgia.

Our Ministries

The Hope House is the women’s recovery program. This program offers women struggling with addiction a chance to find freedom so they may be the women at home and in the community that God always intended them to be. You can hear a testimony of one of the participants here.

Iron Sharpens Iron is the men’s recovery program. The main residence is on Sand Mountain. In addition to recovery, the men learn leadership and interpersonal skills to be better contributors in the community and better husbands/fathers at home. Click here for a testimony.

The Hope House Café is a restaurant largely staffed by the women of Hope House. Attached to the same facility as the women’s residence in Trenton, GA, the café not only provides a place for the community to eat and fellowship, but also a place for the women participants to learn new skills.

The HopeLine is a number for anyone in need of assistance in the tri-state area to call. The HopeLine provides connections to other services and organizations along with a listening ear and compassionate heart when the world may seem hopeless.

Hope Connection is a podcast exploring the redemptive power of Christ in the lives of those in the community surrounding A Hand Up Ministry. Watch and listen to these podcasts on all of the major platforms and be encouraged about the work being done to transform lives and restore hope.