When Kenny Bartlett pictures the future of Franklinton, he imagines it as "a little slice of heaven."

The 37-year-old Gahanna resident spends his weekends in Franklinton, renovating houses for former heroin addicts like himself where they could live a "Christ-filled life."

Bartlett isn't alone when he's doing this; he's got dozens of addicts working with him. They're still in the program behind the renovations, the Refuge, a 13-month faith-based residential recovery program that begins in Vinton County and ends with the men having a full-time job, a relationship with God and, for some, a place to live.

Amid the trash, rundown houses, poverty and drug dealers, Bartlett sees hope. He sees Franklinton looking "how a community should look," and he's helping to make that happen.

The group has renovated three duplexes in Franklinton already as part of an effort it calls Project 614, and is working on another one right now, with plans to look for fixer-uppers on the Hilltop, too. Bartlett, the project manager, has also been charged with looking for another house for the program to buy.

The project is intended to create a gospel-centered community in Franklinton. One side of each duplex is occupied by one man, renting to own the property, with three renters on the other side paying toward the mortgage.

One by one, those renters, and Refuge graduates, can get their own house and do the same, Bartlett said.

"It's about showing these guys hope, that there is life after the Refuge," Bartlett said. "Going through this, they see a lot of people fall and stumble. ... Staying connected has been a huge part for me. It's not easy (to stop using). There's a multitude of things you need to do in order to make it work."

One of those things is securing stable housing, for which the Refuge provides help. Before they get a house, they work with Bartlett as they go through the program.

"There's a multitude of talent that's in the Refuge," he said. "One guy did the flooring, and he was super-pumped to do it for the Refuge and super-pumped to do it sober for the first time."

The idea for the housing project came from the Bible verse, Isaiah 61:4, said the Rev. Tom Thompson, founder of the Refuge. The verse reads: "They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations."

"God changes a person to change a community," Thompson said of his decision to take on more than just the recovery program and to start Project 614.

Though other agencies and ministries work in Franklinton, Judy Box, head of the Franklinton Area Commission, said the Refuge is the only group focused on addicts.

"They do a nice job," Box said. "They're more than willing, they're eager (to be involved in the community)."

The way Bartlett sees it, he learned to leave the selfishness of his addiction behind and to care for others. Now, he and other former addicts can show the people of Franklinton how to do the same.

"If we go pick up trash in the neighbors' yard ... a few minutes later you'll see kids picking up trash, too," he said.

The program is focusing on Franklinton because Thompson and Austin Hill, launch director of Project 614, believe that's where Jesus would be.

"If you ask a real estate agent what neighborhood nothing good can come from, that's the neighborhood Jesus came from," Hill said. "The church has to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It has to be willing to be able to do something no one else will."

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dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing