For Tristate churches exploring a Reset satellite house

Open a door
in your neighborhood.

Reset Ministries partners with local churches across the Tristate — Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana — to open Christ-centered recovery houses. These are places where men and women rebuild their lives inside your church's own reach, with your people walking alongside them.

RESET
2010Reset began in Newport, KY
300+Residents served
90+Families reunited
$250K+In resident debt canceled
What & who

A recovery house is more than a building.

What Reset is

"To transform broken and lost men and women into servant leaders as they discover their identity and purpose in Christ."

Every Reset house is a structured, Christ-centered household — not just sober housing. Residents are supported holistically: sobriety, discipleship, relational healing, financial stewardship, and physical and mental wellness, through daily rhythms, mentoring, and a strong connection to a local church.

Leadership, staff, and board are held to the same qualifications Scripture gives for those who shepherd others — 1 Timothy 3:1–13, Titus 1:5–9, Galatians 5:22–23 — and every board member is deeply connected to a local church.

Who this is for

Have a heart for walking alongside people gaining freedom from addiction and resetting their lives? We love helping churches who have:

  • A congregation within walking distance of jobs, transit, and a grocery store
  • Leaders willing to raise up volunteers — Discipleship Coaches, a Coordinated Care team, and cooks
  • A heart to walk alongside residents for the long haul, not just fund a building
Find your first step

Every partnership starts small.

Here's the path most churches walk — start wherever you're ready.

STEP 1
🧭

Explore a partnership

Schedule a conversation and take a readiness check.

Have a conversation → Check readiness →
STEP 2
🙏

Pray

Create regular rhythms to pray and discern, seeking to hear what God is saying about your church and ministry to those struggling with addiction.

STEP 3
👀

Taste & See

See it firsthand at a Discipleship Night — meet residents and staff in person.

STEP 4
📖

Learn

Grow in your understanding — attend a Discipleship Coaching Orientation, dig into recommended reading, sit in on recovery meetings, or volunteer as a Discipleship Coach.

Email tom@resetministries.org →
STEP 5
🚪

Open a house

Walk the full path from first meeting to opening day, with Reset alongside you the whole way.

See the roadmap →
Get in touch

Let's have a conversation.

Talk to the Reset team

TS
Thomas Sherwood Executive Director, Reset Ministries "I personally walk every church through this process — reach out directly and it comes to me."

Tell us a bit about your church and where you're at. We'll follow up to set an exploratory meeting.

✉️ info@resetministries.org
📍 Newport, KY · Lawrenceburg, IN
Sending your message to our team…

This goes straight to our team — no email app required. Thomas gets an alert the moment it arrives.

The roadmap

What it takes to open a Reset house.

This is the general shape churches move through — every partnership looks a little different, and Reset walks each step with you. Nothing here is a solo assignment.

Not ready for this yet? That's completely fine — see earlier ways to get involved →

🌱
One word of caution before you scroll.

Don't let the number of steps overwhelm you. Opening a recovery home genuinely has a lot of moving parts — and we've laid every one of them out on purpose.

Not to intimidate you, but to do two things: give you confidence that this process is well thought out and built to help you succeed, and break the work into manageable pieces on a timeline that's actually doable.

You won't do it all at once, and you won't do any of it alone.

Download the full blueprint (PDF)8 pages — print it, share it with your team or church leadership.
PHASE 01

Take a Deeper Dive

You've taken a readiness check, prayed, tasted and learned.

Website reviewSpend time at resetministries.org — the mission, the model, and what daily life in a house looks like.
Read Reset's SOPThe standard operating procedures that govern how every Reset house runs. Open the SOP ↗
Attend a Discipleship Coach OrientationSee how coaching actually works — the heart of Reset's discipleship model.
DebriefAn opportunity to answer any lingering questions you might have.
PHASE 02

Discern

Align on vision and make it official.

A Reset board liaison is connectedSomeone from Reset's board is looped in as a point of contact for the partnership.
Review key processes togetherWalk through how Reset operates day-to-day, so expectations are shared.
Draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)A written agreement on roles, expectations, and how the partnership works. Open the MOU template ↗
Reset's Executive Team consentsThe MOU is presented to Reset's leadership for final sign-off.
PHASE 03

Prepare

Build the team and get the house ready.

Fill minimum volunteer rolesCoordinated Care team, Discipleship Coaches, and a Jumpstart Team (see below).
Build the applicant pipelineBuild relationships with prisons, rehab programs, local churches, businesses, and nonprofits so the house has a steady stream of men or women ready to apply.
Finalize job descriptionsStaff, House Manager, and volunteer roles are defined clearly.
Volunteer trainingA dedicated training session, especially for Discipleship Coaches.
House searchReset walks the search with you against a shared readiness checklist (below).
Furniture & essentials securedBedrooms, kitchen, common areas, and office space are furnished and move-in ready.
Finalize rhythms & check-in processWeekly schedule, resident check-ins, and the local community resource list are set.
Communications readyWebsite listing, applications, and social presence are updated for the new house.
PHASE 04

Launch

Open the doors.

Applications openThe house begins accepting resident applications.
Move-in readyThe house is fully staffed, furnished, and welcoming its first residents.
Dedication serviceCommunity leaders, donors, and neighbors are invited to celebrate the opening.
Ongoing rhythm beginsWeekly staff meeting, biweekly Coordinated Care, and regular connection with Reset's board.
What's in the MOU

Who provides what, in plain terms.

Every partnership is different, but this is the shape of a typical agreement — so there are no surprises when Phase 2 gets there. Open the MOU template ↗

Reset provides

  • Volunteer training
  • Ongoing support and coaching
  • Program materials and time-tested SOPs
  • Branding, website, and social media support
  • A steady applicant pipeline funneled to your house

Your church commits to

  • At least one member serving on Reset's board
  • Securing the house (typically leased from a ministry-minded landlord)
  • A part-time staff member overseeing the house, under your church's authority
  • Recruiting and championing volunteers
  • Prayer, spiritual encouragement, and day-to-day resident operations, according to Reset's SOPs
House readiness

What Reset looks for in a house

A quick-reference version — Reset walks the full checklist with your team during the house search.

Walkable location

10–12 minutes on foot to jobs, transit, groceries, and support groups — most residents don't have a car.

Room to live together

3–4 bedrooms (max 2 per room), 2.5–3 baths, and common space that seats the whole house.

Kitchen built for a household

Two fridges, real cooking capacity, and enough dry storage for a full house.

Life-safety first

Smoke alarms in every bedroom, extinguishers, a posted evacuation map, and a naloxone kit.

Security & privacy

Keyless entry, exterior cameras at entries, and a written privacy policy for residents.

Documentation ready

Zoning confirmed, fire marshal pre-check done, and insurance certificates on file.

Your volunteer team

The people a house needs before it opens

This is the full picture of a house running at full strength — almost no church starts here. Most fill 2–3 of these roles first and grow into the rest over the first few months, with Reset helping recruit alongside you the whole way.

4 needed

Coordinated Care Team

Meets every two weeks to walk with residents on the ground.

8 needed

Discipleship Coaches

Meet with residents ~3x a month — not answer-givers, but companions pointing to Christ.

2 needed

Pipeline / Recruitment

Help build the list of future volunteers and keep the pipeline healthy.

1–2 needed

Jumpstart Team

Help new residents get settled in their first 30 days — IDs, clothes, basic services.

ongoing

Cooks

Meals are sacred space at Reset — a Monday or Thursday gathering, shared together.

ongoing

Specialists & Biblical Counselors

Short-term support in finance, health, employment, or deeper spiritual counsel — about 3–7 hrs/month.

Beyond one house

Two more ways to plug in personally.

Not every role is about staffing a single house — these two grow the relationship between Reset and your whole church.

network

Ambassador

Carries Reset's story into your church — coordinating Lunch & Learns and Coffee Chats, and connecting interested members to the right next step.

resident-focused

Church Liaison

A bridge for residents — helps them find their footing and their people inside your congregation once they're plugged in.

Growing together

Partnership deepens over time — here's the shape of it.

Most churches don't start here. This is simply where the relationship can grow, at whatever pace fits.

TIER 3

Getting started

Reset is a first call for your church, and you provide financial support.

TIER 2

Engaged

Adds at least one active volunteer, plus a resident finding real community with you.

TIER 1

Strategic partner

A full volunteer team, a house in discussion or already open nearby, and a resident serving alongside your church.