CHOSEN VESSEL MINISTRIES
ABOUT US
WHO WE ARE
Chosen Vessel Ministries is a faith-based
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We provide therapeutic substance abuse treatment services and are licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We provide therapeutic substance abuse treatment services and are licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
WHAT
WE DO
Chosen Vessel Ministries is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to provide substance abuse treatment (Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient), outpatient mental health services, and DUI School Services.
All services are provided using individual, group, and family counseling sessions.
WHO WE SERVE
Our primary clients are incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women with substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders and their children.
OUR HISTORY
Chosen Vessel Ministries was organized in 1997. Initially doing business as Community Planning Services, we provided support to community- and faith-based organizations serving inner-city communities. The organization’s name was changed to Chosen Vessel Ministries in 2003, and in 2011 Chosen Vessel was approved to provide recovery support services to women with substance use disorders. In 2013, the ministry was licensed to provide outpatient treatment services to women with a substance use disorder. Always operating as a small center, the organization was intentional in providing family-centered gender-specific trauma-informed care in a homelike environment.
Founder, Pastor Linda Barnes
"In 2007, some clarity came to me during a focus group conversation with a small group of women, 11 to be exact. The group was pertinent to my job, at the time. All the women had a substance use disorder. They all had been to jail or prison. They all had been in violent relationships. They all were moms. They shared their stories with me. I shared mine with them. I do not have a substance use disorder. I have never been arrested. I have never been in a violent relationship. But, I am a mom. I was amazed at their willingness to share intimate, and painful, details of some of their most challenging life experiences."
Linda Barnes
Before Chosen Vessel Ministries changed its name in 2003, I spent many years questioning God about what and why – what was God trying to do with and to me? And why? Not only did I question, I resisted.
In 2007, some clarity came to me during a focus group conversation with a small group of 11 women. All the women had a substance use disorder. They all had been to jail or prison. They all had been in violent relationships. They all were moms. They shared their stories with me. I shared mine with them. I do not have a substance use disorder. I have never been arrested. I have never been in a violent relationship. But, I am a mom. I was amazed at their willingness to share intimate, and painful, details of some of their most challenging life experiences.
As our time together came to an end, one woman stood up, looked me in my eyes, and said I represent HOPE. I was stunned, but found some clarity. In the moment, I knew God was calling me to serve women ‘like’ the 11 women sitting around that conference table.
In 2017, our ministry in the women’s prison greatly expanded. We organized and facilitated three additional classes (Recovery Support, Therapeutic Writing, and Seeking Safety) at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary (WTSP) in Henning, Tennessee. But, I felt our ministry was being called to ‘do more’ in the women’s prison.
With prayer, I discerned part of ‘the more’ was to organize a mentoring ministry, called Metamorphosis, to help women prepare for release from prison. Prior to the shutdown, we met with the women in Metamorphosis the first Saturday of each month for group work focusing on areas of need identified through research and evaluation of reentry programs for women as critical to successful family and community reintegration.
Ideally, Chosen Vessel Ministries seeks to connect with and maintain a long-term mentoring relationship with the women of Metamorphosis beginning early in their incarceration and continuing at least five years post-release.