Heartlight Ministries

Mark And his wife started out with an amazing vision and built on that with their bodies and souls. Their vision was good and kind and loving. Somewhere along the way, the program has lost is sparkle. Staff are hired and promoted into positions they aren’t trained to perform and aren’t supported to grow into the scope of their placement. They are merely kids watching our kids. The school accepts all types of students, but some have some very serious issues that aren’t necessarily recognized as they should be. Unfortunately, that resulted in a young girl hanging herself. I won’t go into details about the fallout that came after that but it really is a cult that is perpetuated by family placement in key management positions. It’s a moneymaker for sure... our child continually digressed from the day she got there. Luckily, she is home and on track now. If you are concerned about mental state or educational goals, this is not proper placement. If you are just sick of your kid and you are okay with other kids trying to keep them in line for you, this is your perfect place. more

My experience with Heartlight ministries exceeding my expectations. It is an excellent program, with exceptional staff and unlimited resources. I'd recommend it to any family in need. more

Hearltight ministries has an amazing campus, with a great staff, but the real test was the transformation we saw in our daughter! more

We spent so much time talking with counselors and staff and teachers while our daughter was at Heartlight that they became like family to us. We never sat and wondered how she was doing. The regular counseling reports and school progress reports kept us current on every step of her progress, and if we had questions the staff was just a quick email or phone call away. We stayed closely involved with all that was going on. It was a blessing to watch our daughter blossom under the care of the staff at Heartlight Ministries. more

Heartlight has given us back our precious girl. She was lost in a world I can barely comprehend, but now she is whole again. She is the loving, responsible girl I always dreamed she would become. Even better, she accepts that God has a purpose for her life. God’s dreams for her are much grander than mine. more

The admissions counselors spoke with me at length about my daughter’s situation before we enrolled her at Heartlight. Still, it was my first visit to campus that made me feel comfortable with sending her there. Besides the gorgeous views and the spacious facilities, there was a sense of peace and confidence in all of the staff. I met a few older students who had been in my daughter’s shoes just a few months before and heard how they have learned to walk with God since coming to Heartlight. I trust the staff at Heartlight to let God do His good work in my daughter’s life. She is in good hands! more

Our daughter had been through a short-term program before with mixed results. We did a lot of research before we found Heartlight. When our daughter finished the program there, she had a new heart. We are incredibly thankful for the ministry and the caring staff of Heartlight. We believe it is the best among many outstanding Christian programs. more

Our son has been home three months now after a year at Heartlight. We are so thankful for everyone who worked with him while he was there. He talks all the time about his mentor and the friends he made and all the fun things he experienced while he was there. The follow-up care has been great. We’ve had a few bumps in the road, but the counselors who have kept in touch and all the resources they’ve offered have made his homecoming much smoother. Thank you for your commitment to families. more

Heartlight is a great program for teens and their families but Heartlight is much more...They have many different resources for parents. If you are a parent of a troubled teen, you need to contact them. They have resources that you can use in your own home. You can also attend one of their parent conferences that they hold to try to help keep your teen out of a program. They also can recommend other programs when Heartlight is full or not a suitable fit for your teen. Whatever the circumstance-the care about your situation and will get you help! THANK GOD FOR ALL OF YOU AT HEARTLIGHT. more

I was sent to Heartlight over 10 years ago. It helped me to stop stereotyping people, and I formed life long friendships with both residents and staff. When I arrived, I was so angry, I wouldn't even look at my parents. When I left, I was cheery and outgoing. I came back home after 15 months and made new friends which led to my joining a garage band. This angered my parents who have always considered my passion for singing a waste of time. They claimed I was using drugs, which was unfounded and untrue. They made the decision to send me back to Heartlight after only being home for 3 months. Mark Gregston decided to be my counselor for my 2nd time there. I was back for 2 months and in that time, I saw him once. He cancelled all the other sessions. I was eventually kicked out for trying to runaway. A couple of months later, my first roommate died. Being adopted, then sent away twice, hurt so much more than it helped. To this day my parents and I have a very strained relationship and most of it is because of Heartlight. Oh, and I went to jail twice for weed after my Heartlight stay. I didn't even smoke before I went to Heartlight either time. I was very close with my first roommate and the marijuana had a lot to do with numbing the pain I felt from her absence. Every single person I was at Heartlight with has expressed the same view. It hurts more than helps. I truely believe when Gregston first started this, it was to help people. Now, the other residents I lived with and even some of the staff I'm still in touch with believe this is all about the money for him. Want proof? He named a cabin after my friend Caroline who passed away (and who was also sent to the program twice), then changed the name after someone who donated a ton of money to the organization. Also, if the parents aren't willing to take part and heal themselves, this program has no chance in working. If drugs are involved, this place will not help whatsoever. They do not follow a 12 step program. more

At 15 our child was flying right into the side of a mountain. We had spent years doing everything we could to get some lift under his wings; prayer, friends, family, school counselors, youth leaders at church, psychologist, teachers, prayer, a neural behavioral doctor, a psychiatrist (who just before we found Heartlight told us that when it came to doing everything one could to help a child we "could have written the book"). We felt helpless but Heartlight gave us hope. Our son was there for 12 months and he changed in dramatic ways. He went to Texas a lethargic, unfeeling, "vacant eyes" young man and returned to us an energized, positive and hopeful young adult who believes he has a future. Mind you he was not "fixed" after graduation at Heartlight but was given a healthy foundation in his life in which to build a better future. He has been out of Heartlight (graduated) for some years now and is attending a University in our home state. Heartlight was difficult for us financially and the road after Heartlight wasn't always easy but it was night and day better than before we sent him there. Both parents commitment to their child and involvement with their child while at Heartlight and commitment to the folks and program at Heartlight is essential for the best opportunity for a positive outcome . To this day we support Hearlight monthly (because we are grateful) and while I know not every child ends up with the same results our child received I have a frightening idea of where our son would be right now if we had not made one of the hardest decisions of our lives to remove him from our home and send him to Heartlight. I hope the very best for your child, to you and your family if you chose to send your child to Heartlight. I give Heartlight 4 out of 5 stars because there is always room for improvement in everything and everyone whether at Heartlight or in our lives. We have a 4 star son who is reaching for that 5th star and we could not be more proud. To the staff at Heartlight - Thank You!! more

Good: The staff on intake seemed confident that our daughter was a good fit in their program. Things seemed hopeful but then I was coming from a very emotional state and anything they said I would have been glad to hear.. Bad: The substandard psycological services and their lack of truely diagnosing the problems. The counseling staff and program in general was unable to help my child because they didn't understand the real issues nor did they have the proper training in the treatmeant model she needed. One size fits all mentality.. Improvements: They need a psychological staff that is highly trained in the latest theripudic models and can see and understand the child's real needs. Behavior modification may work for a few but when you have a child with dysregulated thinking and an inability to keep continuity of her life memory from day to day a dialectic therapeutic model is called for and they had no idea what that was. Their understanding of Neurobiology was very poor.. Other: The psychiatric care was marginal. Contact with the doctor was rare and I got the distinct feeling he was a pill pusher and didn't attempted any diagnostic help at all. The treatment team wasn't working in lock step to help my child. When it got to hard they kicked her out. No graduation or closure for my child.. more

Heartlight saved our teen's life. We will forever be grateful and glad we made the decision to put our teen there. He was totally out of control and even suicidal. We originally made the mistake of placing him in another program recommended by oiur counselor, but that was a disaster. Going to Heartlight was like a breath of fresh air... clean... safe... caring... loving... professional. more

Our child was there for 15 months and they did not change. To this day we still have to deal with the problems. After our child left we contacted Heartlight and sought help, they did Nothing! Many kids are 'pulled' from Heartlight by the parents before they complete the program. The success stories are simply kids that outgrow the behavior. This would have happened at home or there. It is a safe and loving environment, but many parents question the effectiveness of the program. There is counseling albiet by very young individuals and the staff in general is quite young. The kids live with Christian staff and the idea is that they will pick up good values by living with them. Not to sure that works. Nepotism is rampant at the staff level, surley being a relative does not qualify you for a job. I mentioned this once and the response was, "Well, they have been in this position for years and I think that qualifies them". No, it just means you have an incompentent person doing the job for years. Gregston had a good thing going when HE did the program, now he spends his time trying to grow his empire at Heartlight. He spends very little time with the kids,too bad. more