ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)- The men of Nehemiah held a concert fundraiser at Red Dirt Pavilion in Buffalo Gap, Texas.  

The group teamed up with local church bands in an effort to raise money for a new facility.  

Program member Elijah Crysel said he using drugs since he was 15-years-old. 

“so, I got a lot of experience with the different cycles and the different things, whether it was heroine, meth, you know I would go from one to another,” said Crysel. 

And 24 years later Crysel says he is starting to be comfortable in his own skin because of the help he has received at The Men of Nehemiah Abilene. 

“I’m okay with who I see in the mirror,” said Crysel.   

“Before I was terrorizing the community, whether it was burning cars or stealing from places or doing different things that addicts do… And today I don’t do that,” said Crysel.  

And Crysel hopes that everyone will invest into the program to provide better opportunities, like a new facility. 

“We have 31 men in a four-bedroom house,” said Lee Morris, the CEO and founder of The Men of Nehemiah Abilene. 

“We’re trying to finish a building on south sixth, that was provided by Damascus Road and then also we’ve worked with APL on Abilene courts on south 11th,” said Morris. 

Which is why the ministry hosted a concert in efforts to raise money.  

“One of the hardest things to do is to raise money for a bunch of grown men to stop partying- in essence,” said Morris. “A lot of people just see drug addicts.” 

But Morris says the ministry sees fathers, brothers, and uncles, and they hope to restore them back into their families and community’s. 

“I actually plan on staying here in Abilene, but I do have to go back to Dallas, you know I have children I have family,” says Kody Keeton, The Men of Nehemiah program member. 

Keeton says he hopes to bring his family back to Abilene with him and share his faith with his family. 

“I plan on sharing all my experiences with them so they won’t have to go through the same thing that I have once been through,” said Keeton. “Just teaching them more about who god is, what he has done for us and getting closer with him.” 

If you were not able to attend and would like to donate, click the link.