In 1993, Mrs. Diane Lodi and a large group of volunteers were working with children in the projects of Cincinnati, and were confronted with the tragedy of rising female crime. At that time, female crime was a relatively new phenomenon, typically associated with addiction and prostitution.  Mrs. Lodi recognized that there was a large population of women returning from prison, with no place to go.  They were hopeless, felt trapped, estranged from their families and children, and fearful – all conditions that are conducive to the addiction-prostitution cycle.  These volunteer ladies did what they could to assist these women and their children in the neighborhoods for several years.

Successes 

Christian Inn Ministries serves women who live in our house and women who live independently. The success rate of women graduating from our former Esther House was 72 percent, meaning they stayed clean and sober for two or more years. 

The original homes served approximately 150 women in residence (with about two-thirds of them still doing well), and probably an equal amount of women and men outside of the home, either in jail, on the streets, or in drug detox centers. We also offered healing prayer to many not mentioned here, which allowed many dedicated women obtain the new life they sought.  Mothers reconciled with their families, women were able to get their own apartments, be free from years of drug addiction, and get good jobs. Almost all of the women in the program had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ during their stay, and many were healed in the process.