As Mister Rogers proclaimed "Won't you be my neighbor!"

My name is Father Jay Geisler and I am former Steelworker and a Pittsburgh Priest. I have worked with homeless Americans for over 30 years and by God's grace, I have been in recovery from addiction for that entire time and I now live in community with those who are homeless. I believe we have a program that helps people become productive, responsible members of society once again. We help both men and women get into recovery through addiction and/or mental health treatment or the trauma of war, and then we live with them and guide them into recovery through shared communal living.

We have a farm near Meadville, Pennsylvania, where men can stay for free while doing job training, and we also work with landlords who provide recovery houses for men and women in Pittsburgh while helping them to find jobs. Some of our formerly homeless men and women have gone on to actually own their own homes and have become pillars in their local communities.

We now own the Duffland Serenity House and is certified by Allegheny County Health Department as an 8 person rooming house in Carrick. This working class neighborhood has some of the highest rates of overdoses in Pittsburgh.

A Ride on OD Road (Tap to View)

101 Duffland Serenity House (Tap to View)

Some Stories of Recovery in the various Serenity Homes. They are my heroes as they continue to give back to others...

Mike became addicted to OxyContin painkillers after falling from a ladder while painting. His addiction took off after the doctor who prescribed the painkillers cut him off "cold turkey" after a year when Mike said, "I may be addicted." Mike bought them on the street because he was sick and eventually shifted to heroin because it was cheap and plentiful. Mike went into treatment and then lived in our housing. Mike is now an Ironworker and owns his own house five years later. He now helps others find recovery and safe housing by utilizing a 12-Step Spiritual Program. Mike was the first one to live in the Duffland Serenity House and he continues to visit and inspire us.

Teresa was homeless and was living with her cat in a car. We helped Teresa get into treatment, and then she was the first woman in our women's house. She later had a beautiful son (her boyfriend, unfortunately, died because of a heroin and fentanyl overdose), and she now works in the insurance industry while raising her son as a single mother who is supported by her family and the 12-Step Recovery Community.

Chad came out of prison and moved into the Kirk Serenity House. He lived with Gus DiRenna (Life Building Ministries Program Director) and Lived with "Father Jay" for a year. He is now in a Union as a Foreman and found God both in the Church basement and in the Sanctuary. He goes into Hospitals to tell his story to give hope and inspire others. He and his fiancé just bought a house together.

Pam was already in recovery when she came into our house. Pam's significant other had relapsed and she needed a safe recovery environment. She came to our soon to be opened East Pittsburgh Serenity House where she lived with her sons (no one else was there yet). Her family was so impressed with her recovery and commitment to her sons that 6 months later they helped her to buy her own home with their help. Pam continues to work in the recovery field as a therapist.

Dakota had been in and out of treatment for years with a Heroin addiction which had resulted in jail time. Dakota stayed at the "farm in Cochranton" which Life Building Ministries owns and trains young men for life and job skills. Dakota was there for 6 months and was in recovery for 18 months until he was in a serious car accident with a shattered arm. Taking prescribed pain medication led to a relapse. After further treatment and jail time, he came to stay at the Duffland House where he repairs cars to help those seeking recovery and he is also repairing the relationship with his young daughter and her mother because of his relapse activated by the prescription pain medication. Dakota now has 9 months clean.

Ralph has been in and out of prison for over 20 years because at first he thought he "was black and knew it would be a hard life." Now Ralph realizes that it was his addiction and mental illness that caused his incarceration. Ralph is now in outpatient treatment and is my right-hand man in organizing the house we are trying to buy.

Would you help Ralph and others to begin their recovery story in a safe, clean community setting?

Make Pittsburgh Greater for God than for Steel by serving the lost, the least, and the unloved one day at a time!

A Video on How God has Chosen Pittsburgh as Someplace Special!

Drug Den Become a Recovery House (tap to view)

Pittsburgh is Becoming a City of Recovery (tap to view)

The Recovery Farm in Cochranton Pennsylvania (tap to view)