ST. LOUIS – A century-old vacant school in St. Louis could be reopened but with a new purpose.

An addict for years, James Boshears struggled to find the help he needed.

"There was nothing really offered. I had to come all the way to the city and even here in the city there's not many recovery or detox options," he said.

Then he found Jubilee Ministries. Now sober, he is trying to be a part of the solution. Jubilee is raising money to turn the old Eliot School into Jubilee Wellness Center.

"North St. Louis, our community here has become the dumping grounds for mental illness, addiction and the homeless just pervades our community. We see it every day,” Pastor Andy Krumsieg, Jubilee Church, said. “There are people dying around us, literally and we can't, as neighbors, leave this alone."

The 51,000-square-foot vacant building will have a treatment clinic and 75 beds of recovery for addition. It is a $24 million project. The city's Community Development Administration just gave $4.8 million in grants to the project.

"I've seen the struggle, the downgrade of the community and now I'm able to see it in a sober mind—the upgrade of the community starting with this," GarriOnn Adolph said.

Like Boshears, Adolph found new hope with Jubilee.

"It's been amazing to be a part of a group like this because we have a structure that's not like anywhere else," he said.

Adolph hopes to share that with more people through this new wellness center.

"I found a whole family. It builds a man up and teaches him the way things should be and not as they are," Boshears said.

The plan is to break ground in the summer. The construction is estimated to take 12–15 months.