Greg Dill hit a low point in his late teens and early 20s and without any outlook for his future. It wasn’t until he had his own “come to Jesus” moment before his life truly started to change.

Born and raised in the New Orleans area, Dill, 63, serves as the chief executive officer for the Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge in Louisiana. And across the state, there are eight centers.

The Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge exists to provide youth, adults, and families with an effective residential, biblically-based solution to life-controlling problems, their website said.

The purpose of the Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge is to produce graduates who function responsibly and productively in society, and who have healthy relationships in the workplace, family, church and community.

“We offer a relationship with Christ,” Dill said.

The program aims to help people in their late 20s and early 30s, offering a free 12-month program covering life issues in class.

The 12-month program offers those who attend a chance to start anew, Dill said. It allows them a “reset” of their lives. There are a total of five centers for men, three for women, including the Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge — The Bridge Women’s Center in Lafayette.

“A lot of anger management, a lot of just overcoming bad situations,” Dill said. “Just forgiveness and working through a lot of hurt.”

That anger and pain was once a factor for Dill, who battled addiction to alcohol, already diagnosed at 19. He also experimented with drugs as early as 14 years old.

Five years later, Dill had a life-changing experience while he was sitting in his cell at the Orleans Parish Jail,

“That’s where I had my ‘Come to Jesus’ moment,” Dill joked.

With nowhere else to turn, Dill turned to the Lord, prayed and asked him to help change his life for the better.

“I didn’t want to do this anymore,” Dill said. “Most adult addicts start out at that point. It’s all fun and games when we are 14, 15 years old.”

Dill considers himself one of the lucky ones who was able to pull himself out of the nightmare, as he calls it, getting clean and right in life.

Like the program he runs now, Dill attended the Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge shortly after his stint in jail at 19, when he was put on probation with multiple conditions he had to follow.

“One of the conditions was the program,” Dill said. “That’s where I started to grow, that’s where I started to see other guys change.”

A year after both his program and probation ended, Dill wanted to continue his journey with his faith, doing so by attending Bible School in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

Three years later, Dill returned to the place that helped change his life forever, the New Orleans Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge Center.

“I haven’t really left,” Dill said. “In 1981 is when I came back to work for the teen challenge and I have been here ever since.”

Dill said he’s at a loss for words at how he feels helping teens who were in the same position he was in years ago,.

“Words can’t really describe,” Dill said of the program. “Just knowing that change is possible, not because somebody told me so, but because I personally experienced it.”

To find more information on the Louisiana Adult & Teen Challenge program, visit the website louisianateenchallenge.com or call the center at 504-947-7949.