Pubdate: Fri, 22 Mar 2002
Source: Federal Way Mirror (WA)
Contact:  http://www.fedwaymirror.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2077
Author: P. Gee
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?1043 (Christianity)

HALFWAY HOUSES GETTING BAD RAP

To the editor:

When are the folks who live in the boundaries of Twin Lakes going to stop 
their whining and get on with their lives? When are they going to find out 
what a "halfway house" really is, not someone's preconceived notion of what 
they think it is? If they don't stop whining, I'm going to start serving 
cheese and crackers to go with their whining.

In the first place, they are all ignorant of what a halfway house is, and I 
don't think they want to find out, because that would mean their great 
leaders of the "covenant" didn't tell them the whole story about recovering 
addicts and alcoholics. They might even find out that these men can, and 
usually are, better neighbors than those with teenagers who like to party 
hardy.

These men are not in any neighborhood to cause trouble, they are there to 
help get themselves acclimated to living in a neighborhood with homes, not 
cells and four walls. They are not there to recruit the children of the 
neighborhood into drugs, sexual misdeeds, nor introducing them how to 
drink. I think many children can and do learn that part from their own 
parents. None of you even take the time to listen to anybody else, just 
those who are against these houses.

I am a Lutheran and proud of it, and I live in a neighborhood where many 
houses are well over the $400,000 price range. We also live just a very few 
blocks from a halfway house in a home that is surrounded by many homes that 
are far more valuable than the houses in Twin Lakes. I am also very proud 
of the fact that The Compass Centers are affiliated with ELCA. They are 
showing the true spirit of compassion and Christianity. Are you?

I realize this letter to be a bit long, but someone has to speak up for 
these men, and in some cases women, who are trying to deal with their 
addictions and want nothing more than to get on with their lives. It seems 
that almost all of the letters printed in your paper are against this 
halfway house in Twin Lakes, and you are taking unfair advantage to the 
whole of Federal Way to change people's ideas about halfway houses. When is 
your paper going to really look into the halfway houses that are already in 
place here in the Federal Way area? Or don't you care, either?

P. Gee, Federal Way
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MAP posted-by: Jackl