Impact PA Day. Volunteers organized M28’s House2Home warehouse and delivered furniture and goods to people in need.
Jimmy Schambach Jr., executive director of M28 Ministry, witnesses each day how difficult addiction recovery is for his clients.
The 12-month relapse rate for substance use disorders is upwards of 60%, according to worldmetrics.org via the CDC. Of those, around 60% occur during the first three months.
Schambach Jr., 38, of Camp Hill, is determined that an ongoing housing crisis in central Pennsylvania shouldn’t add to recovering individuals’ difficulties.
That’s why M28, a Cumberland County-based nonprofit, has acquired Esther’s House, a four-unit apartment house in Mechanicsburg that will provide “dedicated, stable living for men and women in recovery,” according to Susan Ewing-Rathfon, an M28 board member.
M28 officials note that stable housing serves as an “essential link” to successful addiction recovery. Schambach Jr. said that he expects that M28 will accept its first of four Esther’s House residents “in the next two to three months.”
Esther’s House also complements Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Housing Action Plan, a directive for expanding affordable units and addressing Pennsylvania’s continuing housing shortage.
M28’s acquisition was made possible by a $416,000 grant from the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment HOME Funding program, a two-year partnership that supports housing stability and long-term recovery.
With the property’s acquisition, M28 now seeks the community’s help to prepare the four one-bedroom units for occupancy. Work includes fully renovating one unit, with essential repairs and updates for all units, including furnishings.
But really, Esther’s House is only the tip of a proverbial iceberg of all the services M28 provides to the area’s recovery population since its founding 13 years ago by Schambach Jr.’s father, Jim Schambach Sr., the organization’s director emeritus.
Schambach Sr., 74, a former pastor of Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, named his ministry after the Bible passage, Matthew 28, which recounts the resurrection of Jesus, saying, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“I believe that God wanted me to be a pastor and take care of his flock. I’ve done it for 45 years,” said Schambach Sr., of Lower Allen Township. “It’s been a joy to be part of their lives and see them change from instability to stability and then to community.”
M28 guides around 80 people per year toward sobriety through its discipleship, coaching and mentorship programs.
“I do a lot of coffeeshops and lunches (with our clients). I have lots of people I consider friends in recovery, and we keep those relationships even after they’re done with the program,” Schambach Jr. noted. “When we first meet with men and women, we tell them that you can’t lie to us, and, also, we’ll be in your life for as long as you want us to be. One of the biggest things in recovery is community.”
Beautiful Thing
About “60% to 65%” of program participants stay sober for more than a year in recovery, far better than national statistics, according to Schambach Jr.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to see when their hope rises and they move forward,” Schambach Sr. stated.
Through its House2Home furniture distribution program, M28 has served more than 1,679 families in central Pennsylvania undergoing life transitions. In addition to guiding those journeying to sobriety, M28 collaborates with other nonprofits in Dauphin and Cumberland counties, such as the Jewish Family Service of Greater Harrisburg, to aid in the resettlement of refugee families.
Schambach Jr. said that 70% of M28’s funding is obtained through individual donations, with further help from various foundations and a Cumberland County Opioid Settlement Funds grant. Since 2022, the county has received settlement funds and will continue to do so through 2028 as part of national agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy chains to address opioid misuse and overdoses.
Schambach Sr. said that one of M28’s biggest challenges is that the organization doesn’t always have enough funds to meet clients’ requests.
“For example, we don’t always have access to an e-bike,” he noted.
Schambach Jr. stated the organization’s biggest challenge is “society’s general perception of people with addiction.”
“There’s lots of judgment out there,” Schambach Jr. said. “People think it’s a choice, and it’s not. We try to provide education.”
For more information or to donate to M28 Ministry, call 717-610-4645 or visit www.m28.us.
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