DETROIT – Larry Smith has set himself the goal of remodeling his parents’ house on Woodlawn Avenue on Detroit’s East Side.

He wants to turn it into a convalescent home so he can better continue the work he has been doing for decades.

“What really got me going was the people in this neighborhood just dying from drugs,” Smith says. “Overdoses here, overdoses there.”

Larry never had a drug problem.

His mistake was joining a gang in Detroit in the 1970s, which led to a conviction for murder conspiracy and 44 years in prison.

After about 14 years he found God and his calling.

(You ask yourself) Why am I here? What am I here for? Then you will find your purpose in life.”

Larry’s friend Brian Lucas has run his own rehab center and knows how hard it can be.

But he trusts his friend.

“Larry didn’t come out of prison and decide to help people,” Lucas says. “He’s been helping people for decades through his faith and counseling from prisoners.”

This is just the next chapter in his life.”

“I can help people and empower them to leave this home and be a positive person in this community,” Larry says. “They can leave all of that behind and change their whole life. I changed my life, but I had the will to do it and the transformation I had within me to become the person I am today.”

Larry has started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the renovations and hopes to have the house ready for occupancy sometime next year.