About Recovery & Renewal
Built by someone who's been there.
One veteran, one laptop, one mission.
Bill is a homeless U.S. Navy veteran with an A.A.S. in Information Technology and a person in active recovery from alcoholism. He currently lives in a Christian men's shelter in Lewiston, Maine, where he volunteers in the kitchen and attends Unity Bible Church.
Despite a felony conviction in 2014 that kept him out of the IT industry, he single-handedly designed and developed Recovery & Renewal on a refurbished $200 HP laptop with the help of AI tools. He hopes to continue rebuilding his life as an independent developer.
The Mission
Recovery & Renewal exists to provide free, privacy-first tools for anyone seeking sobriety, spiritual growth, or a fresh start. No paywalls. No data collection. No corporate agenda. Just one person giving back to the community that saved his life.
"Freely you have received, freely give." — Matthew 10:8
Lewiston, Maine — The journey continues.
What's Inside the App
Combining Christian devotionals (Spurgeon), Buddhist wisdom (Dhammapada), Stoic philosophy, and 12-Step tools in one offline-first companion.
The Tech
Built with React Native and Expo. Runs entirely offline. All data stays on your device—no cloud sync, no analytics. The source code is available on GitHub.
Why Free?
Recovery saved Bill's life. This is his way of paying it forward. Ko-fi donations are accepted for hosting, but the app will always be free, ad-free, and open-source.