Posted on 08/19/2005 9:46:27 AM PDT by Woman on Caroline Street
The Citizens Voice Out-of-area addicts using Salvation Army rehab program By Tom Long, Staff Writer 08/19/2005
In a brick building on Hazle Street in Wilkes-Barre, The Salvation Army takes in men with alcohol and drug addictions and tries to help them straighten out their lives.
Some of those men come from outside Northeastern Pennsylvania. Brian K. Jones, who is jailed after admitting he murdered 87-year-old Mary Leo, said he came from New Jersey to Wilkes-Barre because there was an open bed at the local Salvation Army.
Because of strict confidentiality requirements, The Salvation Army, an international, faith-based charity, will not confirm or deny that any individual has been in its facilities, Salvation Army Capt. Charles Foster said Thursday. Capt. Foster said since he and his wife took over supervision of the program in February and instituted stricter drug testing requirements, the number of men from outside Northeastern Pennsylvania has dropped. If a man has drugs or alcohol in his system, he is not allowed to enter the program, Capt. Foster said.
Jones said he was at the Wilkes-Barre Salvation Army facility from September 2004 until January 2005 - before the Fosters arrived. He left the program after four months without graduating, Jones said. From his jail cell Thursday night, Jones signed a letter allowing The Salvation Army to release records of his stay in Wilkes-Barre. The Fosters said they would be at the Hazle Street facility until 7 p.m. and would check with their supervisors about releasing records if Jones gave written permission.
However, the Fosters were not at the facility at 6:45 p.m. to receive the release document signed by Jones. They could not be reached by telephone. Capt. Foster said The Salvation Army does background checks, and men with criminal histories involving murder, arson, armed robbery or crimes involving children are not allowed to enter the program. Jones served time in a New Jersey prison for attempted murder, which should have barred him from entering the program.
The Fosters could not address the policies at the local center before their arrival, during the time Jones said he was there. The previous director, they said, is dead. Capt. Foster said that no check can be 100 percent effective. If a man from out of town decides to leave the program, Capt. Foster said The Salvation Army buys him a bus ticket to his home and takes him to the bus station. Since the program is voluntary, it can't require a man to stay.
"Nine out of 10 times, though, if a person's going to leave the program, we know about it," said Capt. Foster. When a man checks out or is discharged from the program, The Salvation Army will take him to the bus station, he said. But there's nothing to keep a man from walking out in the middle of the night. Capt. Foster said it happens. While many of those men return, some just disappear.
Capt. Foster admits rehabilitating addicts is risky. The men who come in have a history of problems, and not all of them can leave their addictions behind. He said relapse is common with alcoholics and drug addicts.
"Do we take a risk? We do. But I think the risk is worth it, because if we don't help them who will?"
The Salvation Army brought him here. I previously made a post about how the SA does. I can't think of any better proof than the death of this poor woman.
Please don't give ANYTHING to the SA. They will ruin your town like they did ours.
My prayers and sympathies go to Mary Leo and her family. My wish is that this man gets a needle in his arm.
FYI - Remember our conversation a little while back?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1459574/posts?page=13#13
See posts 13 and 14
ping - You may want to rethink your donation destinations. Just a heads up.
Here is full story (in this scumbag's own words) as to what he did to this woman.
http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15062824&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
I am shaking right now as I read this. And I am also considering purchasing a firearm.
Oh please, it's a HUGH stretch to blame this on the Salvation Army.
They're out there on the front lines, trying to make a difference peoples lives.
The Salvation Army didn't make this guy murder anyone.
Of course, I'm sure you'd be happy if he'd just murdered someone in another city.
Read the whole article and the other one as well. This man was set loose on our town.
Please do not change the original title when posting a thread.
No, the man voluntarily left a voluntary program that happened to be in your town.
"If a man from out of town decides to leave the program, Capt. Foster said The Salvation Army buys him a bus ticket to his home and takes him to the bus station. Since the program is voluntary, it can't require a man to stay."
In other words, they drop him off and forget about where he's going. I say they drive these bums right back to where they came from. Let New Jersey have him back. We don't want him here. (Sorry Jersey Biker Chick)
Bless your heart.
This is the link to the posted article.
http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15062826&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
There. I think I done did it right this time.
What is it about NE PA that it's becoming a dumping ground for the wretched refuse of this planet? This guy, the town of Stroudsburg, which was once nice, but is now essentially a hilly version of a Yucatan squalor, the homeless village they tried to build in Blakeslee...
Oh, catering to scum sounds like a glamor profession, but really, there's other, better industries to persue. Take it from me.
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
These programs are in many towns, not just mine.
Many years ago, someone told me about the problems they were having with the SA in their town (it was also a small burg like ours before it became riddled with this type of filth). I didn't want to believe it. Now I do.
These big city addicts are brought here through other agencies. Our city's police force can't handle this. I don't think many small city's can.
I don't know what the solution is to this problem, I certainly wish I did. All I know, is it keeps me up at night. I jumped at every sound last night wondering if someone was crawling through a window to steal a jar of change for a quick fix.
No donations, clothes or money, to the SA from me ever again.
Your patience and persistence are commendable. :)
Heh...I could hook you up with some people that would disagree with that.
It's because they can come here and get welfare SUPER QUICK (4-6 weeks)o! You drive down the main street and see them loitering everywhere, doing nothing for the community, providing nothing for the community, but yet consuming tax dollars through every government aid program known to man.
I don't know why people here are defending this organization.
Those are very comforting words. They would have been very appropriate at this 87 YEAR OLD WOMAN'S FUNERAL. STABBED SEVEN TIMES! He went BACK to find MORE MONEY FOR CRACK AFTER HE ALREADY KILLED HER!
Save the sanctimonious bs for someone else.
Because what happened should not and cannot be blamed on the Salvation Army.
It's not sanctimoniuous bs. It's the gospel. And THAT is what the Salvation Army is all about.
You treat this as though your city is the only place where crack addicts commit murder.
CS, I appreciate your comments, really. But this town that I live in (WB), was once a peaceful, quiet town, with a thriving downtown area, hard-working people, etc.
In the past fifteen years, it's gone down the toilet.
I weep for my town, and this woman, I really do (How could I not?). I knew her family and frequented the business they own. Now, you can't go down to this area of town unless you're packing something.
I do NOT weep for addicts that kill people. This man was a CONVICTED felon, who tried to BURN his child and it's mother (his previous girlfriend). He just got out of jail and he comes here on the advice of friends. These derelicts all seem to know that our town is easy pickin's for criminals. We were robbed last year. The police did nothing (we did get some things back by investigating on our own, but nothing can replace family heirlooms). And what was our stuff sold for less than Twenty Minutes after it was stolen? Drug money. Pure and simple.
I don't want them (SA) here. If that sends me to hell in a handbasket, then so be it. If getting them out of town delays my trip to a funeral parlor and ultimately, hell, then Amen.
Yes, I do. This is the first I had heard of such a program. Thank you for making me aware of this.
Someone at that office really screwed the pooch on this, and may have helped cause a situation in which someone was killed.
Should we blame the Salvation Army?
Certainly, this man should not have been in the program. The people running this should have weeded him out in the background check and he should not have been at the facility.
That said, there is no guarantee he would not have killed someone, somewhere. This man had a track record for attempted murder, no surprise he finally succeeded. He did the crime, not the Salvation Army.
I can see why you object to a program which is this badly run, especially when it is allowing serious problem cases in the program in your town, from elsewhere, and in defiance of the program guidelines. I imagine there will be a change of personnel there in the near future.
That said, one badly run local office does not make a bad worldwide organization, any more than one bad burger damns an entire franchise.
In my area, the Salvation army does do a lot of good, the Red Cross, zip. I always donate to the local office, not national.
In your area, I would take this up with the regional or local office and tell them you will not be donating and why. That is one way to bring pressure to get the program or the supervisors of the program changed.
With enough voices, that could happen.
I apologize for posting this in religion. My bad.
I asked the admin mod to fix it.
Again, many apologies.
Well yeah, so was Peyton Place.
It's just ludicrous to blame the Salvation Army for either one.
There's probably no better place on FR to find defenders of the Salvation Army. :-)
The people in line ahead of me had 2 open bags of chips that they let the kids eat to keep them quiet in the store. They put the chips on a shelf and did not pay for them.
If you had a problem with it, you should have said something to me there at the store. Of course we didn't buy them, they were half eaten.
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
UM, I know it wasn't you. Can't say why here, but trust me, I know!!
Re: Out-of-area addicts using Salvation Army rehab program
From Jersey Republican Biker Chick | 08/19/2005 2:31:16 PM EDT read
<<<<UM, I know it wasn't you. Can't say why here, but trust me, I know!!>>>>>
It was a 350 lb woman in a mu-mu. Somehow I don't think that was you.
JRBC
I'm not a pound over 330 and it was a HOUSE DRESS okay?
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
OK fine have it your way. Read your FReepmail!!
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