JACKSONVILLE—As someone who has dealt with addiction, Rebekah Blevins knows just what it means to live a life of hope and freedom.

But there was a time in her life when she didn't.

"I remember thinking I wouldn't live to see 30 because I was so hopeless and just had no purpose in my life."

That was until she found Adult and Teen Challenge. Also known as Teen Challenge, the faith-based recovery program is for individuals battling life-controlling addictions.

"They do celebrate recovery, and they do trauma healing and different things like that. But Jesus is the center of it," Blevins said.

The nonprofit organization offers "practical, appropriate and accessible Bible-based courses," catering to adolescents and adults dealing with alcoholism and substance abuse. There are more than 200 centers across North America, including men's and women's rehab centers on Philips Highway and Wheat Road, respectively. 

Blevins graduated from the program 15 years ago. Blevins, whose father is a pastor, grew up in the church. But she said in her first month in college, she was a victim of date rape. That sent her into a spiral.

"Instead of taking that and getting healing and, you know, using it and getting purpose ... it controlled my life."

Blevins said for several years she tried to find ways to numb her pain, which included heavy drinking and drugs.

"[That] led me into an abusive relationship, which caused more pain, and more drug abuse and alcohol abuse."

Blevins hit rock bottom when she failed out of college and had two different near-death experiences within four months.

"I overdosed, and the people I was with ... they left me in my car dead," she said. "My parents found me, and they found me dead.

"And while I was out, I had [an] out-of-body experience where I saw all black and I knew I was falling to hell. Because I could feel my body falling. And I felt really the hand of the Lord, because I felt it was like a hand bigger than my body caught me. And I stopped falling and started seeing a speck of light."

Blevins said the doctors had pumped her stomach and shocked her heart several times before she came back to life.

A few months later, she said she was driving on the mountainside in West Virginia when she had a bad car accident that left her trapped.

"I couldn't move my legs. I was just trapped, upside down on this mountainside, and I cried out to Jesus. The next thing I know, I believe it was an angel that saved my life because there was someone with me, and he put me against the guardrail and called 911. 

"But whenever the EMS got there, he wasn't there."

Blevin said she knew her life was out of control, and her mother encouraged her to reach out to Teen Challenge. She said she entered the program when she was in her early 20s.

"Within the first week I was at Teen Challenge, I was met with so much love."

She said being at the center gave her a chance to be away from the world and at peace. 

"I could pray and read my Bible and get healing. Put things that I have been through, and allow the Holy Spirit just to change my heart. And he took the bitterness that I had and gave me compassion. And he took the anger and the unforgiveness that I had, and he gave me joy."

Teen Challenge was first introduced in the 1950s by David Wilkerson. The program involved a group of New York City teenage boys who were involved in gang activity. 

Blevins said that as the program grew, Wilkerson realized that drug addiction could impact anyone. 

"It's a problem for all ages, all races, all sexes. Everyone," she said.

The year-long, extensive program is affectionately known as the "Christian Bootcamp." In addition to morning prayer and devotional services, specialized classes, studying and fellowship, those in recovery also work at the Super Thrift donation store in Orange Park. The store is a source of revenue for both centers in Jacksonville, in addition to student sponsorships.

"All the donations that people bring in make a big difference to them being able to go into the program because it is the mission of Teen Challenge to not turn away [anyone]."

Blevins said their work at the store teaches them to be self-sufficient and reliant on themselves for whatever they complete in the program.

Those in recovery are also only allowed to use a phone to communicate with immediate family, as long as they're healthy.

"It's so that they are not tempted to communicate with people from their past."

According to a recent study, 78% of graduates remain sober post-graduation.

After graduating from Teen Challenge, she also obtained her bachelor's degree in behavioral health and earned her minister credentials with the Assemblies of God.

In Jacksonville, she worked for the center as a campus chaplain and program manager. She also leads a local juvenile detention outreach for a facility in Gainesville and was nominated for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice's Volunteer of the Year award in 2023. Currently, she is the dream team coordinator at Evangel Temple in Jacksonville.

Now married with three children, she said her life continues to be on the up. On Oct. 3, she will share her story at the 2025 Jacksonville Teen Challenge Gratitude Gala. The night at Adam W. Herbert University Center will include dinner, inspirational messages and other powerful stories of transformation.

With drugs as one of many leading causes of death in the United States, Blevins said it's scary. 

"It's terrifying. And I think a lot of people just don't know what to do. They're like, it's heartbreaking and they're disgusted by this epidemic in our nation. But they just don't know what to do. Well, supporting Teen Challenge is something they can do."

For more information on how to get involved, visit teenchallengeusa.org. Tickets for the gala can be purchased at bidpal.net/jaxgala25.