BANGOR, Maine — The City Council decided Monday night that it would not amend city zoning rules to allow for a Hope House expansion and then indefinitely postponed discussion of an agreement with Penobscot Community Health Care that would have allowed the agency to move forward with the project.
Hope House is a facility at 170 Indiana Ave. that provides emergency food and shelter to alcoholics and drug addicts, as well as on-site medical care, mental health services, housing support and social service case management.
During the public comment segment of Monday’s meeting, residents reiterated many of the concerns they expressed during an Aug. 29 meeting with PCHC about the proposed expansion. Those complaints ranged from transients living and growing marijuana in the woods near homes to concerns that 15 registered sex offenders list their address as the Hope House.
Councilor James Gallant was the most adamant opponent to the expansion among the councilors. He held up a handful of news articles regarding crimes committed by Hope House residents and transients. He said he felt the Hope House and other social services were not only “enabling and coddling” addicts, but also drawing more of them to Bangor.
“Every bed that [Hope House] provides is another problem that comes to Bangor,” Gallant said.
Allen Tweedie was one of several residents to speak at the meeting.
Tweedie said he entered the Hope House in 2010 to take advantage of its services during a difficult time in his life. Today, Tweedie said he is working and has his own place.
“There are a lot of good people there,” Tweedie said. “I wouldn’t be standing here today if it weren’t for the people there who gave their time and effort for me.”
Gallant applauded Tweedie for turning his life around, but said he believed the vast majority of Hope House residents wouldn’t have similar success stories to share.
Hope House has transitional housing room for up to 24 people. PCHC secured grants from Maine State Housing and some foundations to construct an 8,000-square-foot building that would add 24 more small bedrooms as well as improve its clinic.
Council Chairman Cary Weston abstained from most of the meeting after the council voted that he had a conflict of interest because he is a partner in Sutherland Weston, a marketing and communications firm that has PCHC as one of its clients.
Councilor Susan Hawes did not attend the meeting.
PCHC had asked both the Bangor Planning Board and Bangor City Council to change zoning rules in the area to allow for more rooming houses, boarding homes or congregate housing facilities owned and operated by public or nonprofit organizations.
The planning board voted 4-3 against PCHC’s amendment request at its July 19 meeting.
Members of the council and the public agreed on one thing: They want to see a safe, successful city.
Suggested solutions to the residents’ problems aired at recent meeting ranged from starting neighborhood watches to offering services similar to an operation in Portland in which a van travels around the city, picks up homeless individuals and takes them to emergency rooms or shelters or offers them help.
Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick said the city should form a commission to hash out solutions to the overall problems involving transients, homelessness and addiction in Bangor.
Councilor Nelson Durgin said the problems in Bangor transcend the Hope House and that the residents’ concerns would have continued to exist with or without the expansion. Now that the discussion about the Hope House has “opened the window,” it’s time to begin a broader discussion of how to move forward and alleviate the problems citywide, Durgin said.
Bangor Daily News reporter Andrew Neff contributed to this report.
Gallant, I will be voting for you when you run for your next term. We need people on the council that think like you. I couldn’t agree more, as long as we continue to provide homes for addicts and sex offenders, we are going to attract addicts and sex offenders.
Me too. At the same time, these are real people that live there (and have been living there), some people for a long time. Would love to see that place run by someone who really cares about these people turning their lives around. Shut down the Pines!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS3TXrVi76s AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piXSlYmpsVM&feature=relmfu
first play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpc5_3B5xdk
second look up bangor maine; especially near the childrens museum in bangor:
http://www.familywatchdog.us/ShowMap.asp?frm=0
Andy what does “The Benny Hill Show Theme Tune” and a broken link have to do with anything?
its not a broken link…go to familywatchdog.us .. its a sex offender search, there are currently “258 mappable” and “63 not mappable” sex offenders living in the vicinity of downtown.
the benny hill theme is for something to listen to while looking at the search!
Andy this is the message when I click on you link “Network Error (dns_server_failure)”.
I got through.
Good. I tried twice and didn’t.
type in manually?
thanks!
Gallants thought process is simplistic and dangerous.
If you build it, they will come.
And if you don’t build it, they’ll move into the woods behind the current structure.
So your answer is to enlarge the problem.
No – my solution is to deal with it and not pretend like ignoring it will make it go away. Like it or not, and I’m guessing most of us don’t, Bangor has a problem with homelessness and addiction. Getting angry and rigid about it, as Gallant is doing, won’t fix the problem.
Inviting more in the system helps?
Bangor has facilitated addiction and has brought us more drug related crime and homelessness.
Gallant isn’t the least bit angry. He recognizes we have a problem and understands that feeding it is not the answer.
Once upon a time in the State of Nebraska, good people with kind hearts enacted a law allowing parents to leave children at hospitals, without risking criminal charges. They did this so overwhelmed people would not hurt their children.
What happened in response to this law was that people came from all over the Nation to dump their children in Nebraska. While the origional law envisioned (but did not mandate) very young children, people dropped off teenagers up to their 18th birthday. One father dropped off 10 children who he drove in from Michigan.
Nebraska was forced to change the law so that the people dropping off children had to be Nebraska residents, and that children needed to be 3 days old or younger.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-4532928.html
If you can not figure how that lesson applies here you are not paying attention.
Bangor has a problem importing criminals and addicts. What needs to be told is why they are coming here. People are profiting from this and their homes are not near these shelters. This is about money.
Where they can be arrested and placed in a cell where they belong.
Which is more expensive for society, housing them at the Hope House or in Jail? Serious question!
how about they just stay in the states that sent them here. Surely you do not think that this is not happening.
Not saying I necessarily disagree, but a one-liner like ” If you build it, they will come” is perhaps not the best response to the accusation that someone is thinking too simply about an issue.
“If you build it, they will come” is a very simple way of demonstrating why the problem exists. Agencies in other states who do not have wet facilities, purchase bus tickets for people to travel to Bangor to reside at Hope House. It sends their problem someplace else. When Hope House was a dry facility, there was no problem with drunks and addicts being given a place to sleep at night and then being forced into the public arena the next day. If a client left the grounds and returned drunk or high, they were turned away. A wet facility does not address the problem; it supports it. For those of you who think it’s such a wonderful idea to house an addict, I suggest you go to Hope House and take one or two of the transients residing there into your home for a week. Then come back and tell us how wonderful it is to support, instead of discouraging, addiction.
That was my point really. It shouldn’t take many brain cells that for word to spread about a good deal like this. People will come from everywhere. Do you really think there were 1,700 opiate addicts in the greater Bangor area before the clinics opened up? We are building an infrastructure that encourages people with some pretty bad behaviors to live in Bangor. We need a community discussion about this and what kind of city we want to be.
Was the grant secured for the expansion of Hope House while Bob Carlson was in charge at PCHC and while Dale McCormick was in charge of Maine State Housing Authority? It probably was. Glad to hear Councilor Gallant produced the articles regarding crimes committed by the transients who reside at the Hope House. It’s about time someone with some common sense! Why are all these transients coming to Bangor? What state(s) is giving them the bus tickets here?
Many.
Evidence, please…
Can’t provide it, just word of mouth from your local pd.
Do you honestly believe that not expanding Hope House will decrease crime?
I would be more impressed if the City Council came up with solutions when they deny projects like this. The problems aren’t going away.
Don’t always blame the homeless people for the crimes. Maybe if someone would reach out to the homeless and try to help them then, they in return could reach out and help someone else down the line.
Perhaps you could reach out and open up your home. Let’s see how that works out for you. I believe someone recently did and was robbed and had their vehicle stolen.
Have you opened your house or home. Have you demonstrated compassion to others?
Have you? Probably not, you are too busy commenting. Do you demonstrate compassion with your own funds instead of expecting everyone else to pay for it? Do you volunteer at the HOPE house?
“Have you?”
Actually I have. Now back to my original question, “Have you opened your house or home. Have you demonstrated compassion to others?”
~~~~~
“Probably not, you are too busy commenting.”
Nice personal attack.
~~~~~
“Do you
demonstrate compassion with your own funds instead of expecting everyone
else to pay for it?”
I most certainly do help and show compassion on a daily basis. Have for better than half my adult life. And if you followed any of my post on this thread the question I am asking is how much are we willing to pay for clinics and treatment to help people get off drugs and alcohol.
~~~~~
“Do you volunteer at the HOPE house?”
No…the place I have chosen is Manna where they serve many of the same people that Hope House, Shaw House, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, etc…along with those that live paycheck to pay check or on SSI come from a hot meal. Where do you volunteer not?
Trust me I am not blaming the homeless for crime.
Homeless is one thing. non-recovered alcoholics and drug addicts are another. Hope House should change their policy regards “wet facility” before asking for an expansion. having non-recovered alcoholics and drug addicts is not good for a neighborhood’s ambiance.
So where do “wet” alcoholics and drug addicts go if there is no Hope House?
My suggestion is to a clinic to rid themselves of the ‘monkey on their back’. Hope House is no longer anything other than a place for addicts to sleep and eat. It’s original intention, to address the problem and help people stay dry, is the solution. Is not Hope House now under the umbrella of a large medical corporation? Should Hope House return to it’s original intent, not only would I support an expansion, I’d roll up my sleeves and pick up a hammer myself.
Thank you for your thoughtful and honest answer. You make some good points and you certainly thought through the response and I respect that.
The one unfortunate remaining problem is that an addict (doesn’t matter if it is alcohol, prescription drugs, street drugs, cigarettes, etc…) has to want to get clean. Drugs are even available in our corrections system for those that want/need them.
It is a very sad situation that we have lost out compassion for our fellow human beings. Maybe some of those using the Hope House do want to get off alcohol and drugs but where do they turn. Manna has (had) Derick House that was a drug treatment program for people that wanted to get off drugs. Bill Rae approached various churches in the area as one of the requirements was regular church attendance. It is a sad commentary when a “christian” church says “we don’t want “them” in our congregation” or “what about the Sunday school children. We need to protect them” or “it will drive away members”. I head all of these excuses first hand when Bill approached my church for help.
The other problem that people forget about is the clinic you mention (and even Derick Hoise) depended on state and federal dollars to administer the program and those funds have been cut and cut at both the state and federal level.
Clinics and programs are all well and good but without the dollars to support them are worthless and the results are shelters like the Hope House are the only answer for many homeless people, drug and alcohol addicted or not.
I understand what you are saying; however, I think the frustration with many people (myself included) is the chronic repeat *offenders* (if-you-will) who simply use Hope House for a flop house when they’re in town or a buddy’s chucked them out the door because they’re drunk or strung out.
Yes this absolutely happens, and no, I can’t provide hard data. I have no problem helping people who need help and have the will to seek it, but as you said, they need to want help.
Additionally, in this economy, people are trying to keep their heads above water financially themselves, so I wouldn’t be so quick to say that people simply don’t want to help or finance these programs. Many of us simply can no longer afford to.
I used to donate fairly regularly. 2 growing kids and gas to get to work at $4 a gallon has all but dried up any funds I have to donate. My house taxes have gone up at a ridiculous pace thanks to this state going broke and not funding their mandates (for schools for example).
I’m tapped out. Many of us are, and as a result, so is the state since we are where they get their money. A lot of people have lost good paying jobs here, thereby dropping the pool of available tax/grant money for shelters.
There are a lot of homeless families living in weekly rental motels too. I’d rather see my money help them get into a home of their own than to expand a shelter that helps a few, but enables many.
Do you honestly believe that expanding Hope House will decrease crime? Do you actually read the BDN? Do you want a Hope House in your backyard?
Did you read my comment to the end? The denial does nothing to attack the root problem.
Ever fed the squirrels?
Nope. Your point?
If you don’t get it, I can’t help you.
Yes because humans are so much like forrest rodents.
So do you actually have a solution or are you just concerned that its not in your back yard?
Addicts are much like forest rodents, stay dogs, and stray cats. If you take care of them, they hang around and expect it day after day. If you don’t, they do one of two things: they either learn how to take care of themselves (which, again, was the original intent of Hope House), or they wander off and die. Yes, it sounds cold; but I did not choose for those people to be addicts, they did. I can help them learn how to not be an addict, if they choose to not be clean and dry. I’d be curious to see what the ratio of known ‘hobos’ was during the 1940s to the number of addicts now being housed on the taxpayers’ monies. Is the answer to feed, cloth, and house transient addicts or is it to force them into a position of learning to care for themselves? Remember the adage “If you feed a man a fish, you have fed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime”? I’ll not support the forcing a community to fed a person day after day until s/he either drink his/herself to death of overdoses…..I will totally support teaching that person to fed him/heself so that person becomes his/her own responsibility. Do I sound harsh? Yes, I know I do. It’s a harsh world, and being responsible for adults who choose to not take responsibility for themselves is not my responsibility.
And wasn’t it Jesus that often walked among and “touched” the unclean going against the Jewish laws of the day.
We have become a me before everyone else society. If the person cannot or is unwilling to help themselves we often say “screw them”.
Clinics and programs cost money…a lot of money. Bill Rae has has to scale back Derick House a number of times because federal and state funds have been cut. He has appealed to the community for help. Guess what happened? For the most part nothing. People no longer want to help if it doesn’t help them in many cases.
If you think I am a “bleeding heart liberal” I’m not. I am a conservative for the most part that has had to deal with alcohol and drug addicts for most of my adult life.
I would rather help a fellow human being then toss the out with the bath water. Do an we save them all? No. But we should at least have the system in place to help them but that costs money…a lot of money.
Good post JD.
This is where I get off the ultra conservative bandwagon. Nobody LIKES to support people that have made poor “choices” in life. I do feel that the term “choice” is an overused talking point for the “I have mine” crowd though. I mean really, does anyone have a CHOICE to whom they are born? Do they have a choice about values (or lack thereof) that they are taught? Much of the mental illness and addiction issues are a direct result of trauma from abuse and improper upbringing. Some people do indeed just make plain old bad choices. My feelings are that people with mental illness and addiction should be provided with the basic necessities we would all wish for ourselves if they cannot do it on their own. Cannot does not equal will not however.
I have no problem with some basic requirements of these folks either. Counseling and some type of work, even if it is limited in scope or actual value should be part of the deal. As far as people from away being sent here because other cities know Bangor will take care of THEIR problems should be sent back and those cities (if proven) that sent them here be held accountable.
And what does Carlson have to do with it? I’m not a resident of Bangor and, as such, have no vested interest in the requested expansion. However, I’d want to hear how PCHC would plan to address any problems which may arise following any expansion.
Carlson founded the “Hope House”
and
They would address “the problems” the same way they do now…. not-at-all.
179 Indiana Ave
I don’t think the copy desk bothers to verify anything anymore.
Who edits this anyway… someone from China or what? You read the BDN, yer probably familiar with the Hope House.
Tragically. Can we either change the name or the guidelines? …It takes a community to raise a child. Just saying.
One of the rare moments when the City Council chair is recognized as the actual title of the position.
“Hope House is a facility at 170 Indiana Ave. that provides emergency food and shelter to alcoholics and drug addicts…”
I like direct language. However, I do think people-first language has its place. People are more than their diagnosis. Instead of referring to “alcoholics” and “drug addicts,” why not say “people with alcoholism” and “people addicted to drugs”?
This isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about recognizing people for what they are — people — not a bunch of diseases walking around.
Yes, and meeting them where they are and getting them to where they truly want to be.
Oh please Ryan. I often agree with you, but the statement above by you IS about political correctness. I might buy your point a bit more IF Hope House was not a wet facility. Some of these folks are unrepentant alcoholics and drug addicts. Personally I (as a recovering alcoholic myself) have never recognized alcoholism or drug addiction as diseases. They are both brought on by personal choices and can only be aleviated by future personal responsibility. NO ONE was responsible for my drinking except me.
Be sure to use that phrase ” a person with alcoholism” when you’re talking to dispatch when one of these drunks are trying to gain access to your home!
I saw a panhandler, his wife, and another woman and their dog on stillwater outside the bangor mall entrance acroos from Jo Anne Fabrics holding a sing “On the Road and Out of Luck”
time for them people to be moved along or detained
Andy just curious did you stop and talk to the three people? I ask because how could you know the “panhandler” was married to one of the two woman if you didn’t stop and talk with them?
And one last question, on what charge would you have the police detain them on?
Is there a proper way to hold a sing????
i think you meant sign right?
Be detained for what? Wait until obama if he does get re-elected watch what happens then.
Do people actually relieaze how many jobs in Bangor are there becuase people that are down on ther luck??
1 in 4 get food stamps. How many jobs are in bangor because people get foodstamps?
How many jobs are created becuase people are on section 8 or other houseing help?
People need help when they are down. remember sometime in life you my be down on your luck also!!
Also think about how many jobs and money comes into the places of employment because General Assitance.
there are plenty of jobs for people to do. i started working in my own business when i was 12 cutting grass, and other menial jobs til I got my first “real” job at Shaw’s when I was a senior in high school. It paid me $6.35/hr granted not much – but it is some income. Nobody wants to take those kind of job because they get more $ on assistance. People are smarter than you think. My parents taught me pride and I work rather than take handouts. I had a hard time when I was cut hours at a job and debated about applying for assistance – I did but there are many hurdles to getting what I needed. I’d rather have my pride.
Pick them up and cart them to ER’s….! How is bringing someone such as these people to an ER going to have any real result. They will be admitted and released.
Sadly there are a lot of misconceptions about this. Bangor has always been the destination from other states as the “One way ticket” for those who want to get rid of their troubled addicts. Maybe it is because we continue to ignore the truth of our city’s beginnings and how it truly got it’s name. Maybe it’s because we do coddle those in these situations and maybe it’s because we are to eager to coat over problems and not actually deal with them. What ever it may be, it is time for tough love, getting honest and digging deep. I have lived and eaten out of the many dumpsters in this city. Bangor was the city I got my fresh start on life, yet I know I had to also do the work. If we truly want to change the way we have been going for so long then we need the entire city to work together as a whole. We cannot change this direction by just ignoring the problems nor can we just throw blame around. We need to set tough restrictions on those being sent here, which means telling the other states that enough is enough and to deal with their own problems and to not send them here or we’ll send them back. It’s time to get people into real counseling and not medicate their psychological pains. It’s time to put some real measures into place even though many may not like them. Either way, it’s going to cost us and I am sure we’d rather pay for positive results than continue paying for what we’ve had. The shelters provide a service that is needed yet they also enjoy the money coming in from services provided that are not truly needed and are draining the system dry. They called them entitlements yet it wasn’t meant as we use it now. That’s my opinion from my own experience from the streets to working within the MH&HS field. Thank you.
Bravo. Excellent post.
Now stop building methadone clinics
Why? So that we can have a bunch of untreated opiate addicts running around town looking for a fix and way to pay for it? That doesn’t sound like a very smart approach.
We already do have a bunch of untreated addicts running around town. This is not to mention the “treated” addicts who continue to abuse drugs and sell them on the side as well.
Do you seriously believe those three people who were recently murdered and found in the industrial park weren’t addicted to something or things? I think enough evidence of that has come out now to say “yes.”
Don’t kid yourself. There’s a whole LOT of enabling going on in Bangor and not just the Hope House.
For those who have been successfully treated by the clinics – congratulations. That’s what the clinics are supposed to be for. I applaud them for working very hard and becoming successful, but let’s face it: There are a WHOLE lot who aren’t.
How many people have listed Hope House as their residence for several years now? Many. Many bounce back and forth. Sorry, but at some point there has to be a cutoff.
Since you brought up the issue of facts – let’s hear some. Please explain to me how the 3 murder victims are connected to the Hope House.
They are connected to a pattern of building an infrastructure that supports those lifestyles.
Cheesecake1955 answered that just fine, but I’m willing to bet money that at least one or two of them traveled in the same circles.
The common denominator in this city is drugs.There is a fairly large “couch surfing” population in Bangor. Some of them flop at the Hope House on occasion – usually when they’re blistered and Dennis Marble won’t let them in the other shelter because they’re wasted – and I don’t blame him a bit.
Can I provide you with anything buy anecdotal “facts?” Nope. But as is evidenced from the people who have spoken at the council meeting and elsewhere, there is most definitely a problem with this place.
oh thats right I like your approach, lets build the clinics so Bangor can be flooded with addicts coming to our area, as they are, and increasing our crime rate while we pay with our tax dollars for their fix. As well lets build some more low income housing to house these addicts to so they do not have to work and find their own way in this world too. You are right we do not want them walking the streets looking for a way to pay for their fix. Lets let us Mainers pay for it for them and their housing and food and medical needs heating oil and clothing and even fix their car when it breaks down.
Just when I thought common sense had left the Bangor area. There is Hope——
Someone suggested that the empty space at Dorothea Dix be used for any such expansion. Has this been looked at as a possibility? The problem of the homeless is already there and it won’t just go away. And to those who talk about how other states send their homeless to Maine, all I can say is that it happens in reverse also. I had more than a few folks from Maine that were homeless when I worked in Boston. But homeless came from all over the country. It is not so unusual when things fall apart somewhere to try a new beginning elsewhere. But no matter where you go, there you are. So unless the issues that led their lives to fall apart are resolved to at least some degree, all that changes is the address of the individual.
These are drug and alcohol addicted homeless at the hope house. Not homeless families.
Does that mean that they should not get help? I think anyone who is willing to do the work to improve their lives should have the support to get it done.
they want the head count payments. it’s about the money just like methodone..
They don’t get help at Hope House; they only get taken care of.
Dorothea Dix backs on to Mount Hope Avenue and is close to at least one school and a playground. I would guess that the parents in that neighborhood would not want the “wet” residents of Hope House there either. I was thinking more of two miles east of the Airline Diner on Route 9.
Homeless people need a place to live! And they need medical attention also with services.
Gallant would you be saying the same thing if it was a expansion on a womens abuse shelter??
Are you comparing abused women to sex offenders and untreated drug addicts? I would not mind a group of abbused women living next door, but I sure don’t want a house full of crack addicts over there.
Many do come here as we are the end of the bus line. We also have the second best welfare rate in the country. Yes, I have had many tell me this. If the Hope House is all about recovery, why are they allowed to continue to drink and can be drunk there? Isn’t that like Weight Watchers having french fries and doughnuts at their meetings? How well are they doing to rehab addictions if they are still allowed?
Apparently, Mr. Gallant is the only councilor who is ready to tackle this rapidly expanding problem. Linking up with councilors attempting to prolong the life of the Dorothea Dix Center might help thwart the problems at hand.
Pan handling along Stillwater increased in popularity with the tacking of that tacky “Open For Business” sign on our front door, stuck there by LePage. If these “transients” swing into town, stay free at the Hope House, then hold out their coffee cans for cash, surely they don’t qualify as “homeless?”
The operations of Hope House need to be much more clearly defined than they are now. Helping the homeless should be the institution’s priority. Quartering alcoholics and druggies, shouldn’t. Not that we want to see anyone surviving in the gutters, or, hiding in a clump of trees – “a jungle” – next to I-95; as good citizens, it’s time we started to help turn these poor folk around.
Some astute thinker suggested, the Dorothea Dix Center could be utilized for this purpose. Rehabilitation could be incorporated into their stay, thereby working toward a solution, rather than prolonging sicknesses.
A facility similar to the hope house would be better
situated away from the source of the problems. On any given morning these
people can be seen walking down Hammond Street from the Hope House and later in
the afternoon they are staggering back up Hammond Street with a bag of alcohol
under their arm and the cycle continues. Bangor used to have a “City Farm”
where people who were not able to manage their lives could find food and
shelter in exchange for some productivity that was within their capabilities.
Like x1000. Bring back the Town Farm. Everywhere.
I am very familiar with some of the past clients of Hope House.In fact,I could write a book with the stries I heard from them. I have heard them say,they dont go to Hope House anymore,becauser it is dangerous,and they are scared.I am not against helping addicted people.I just feel that there need to be limitations and rules in place.First and formost,people using Hope House should be residents of Bangor.This would stop people in Portland and Lewiston,and other areas from coming here,for a free ride.Secon,there should be a limit on people who are using. If they enter a recovery program,and they are using,thats fine,but if they are still using a week later,they are not in recovery,they are in a shelter that enables them to keep using.And maybe it is time to move the facillity to a less secluded area.If you drive by Hope House,there are people sitting in cars,on logs,and on the picnic table drinking,and using drugs. I have seen it many times.Why should the citizens of Bangor pay taxes to support sex offenders,and violent people.If someone wants to quit using,they will obey simple rules,if they dont,they need to leave.By allowing people from out of the area use Hope House,you are allowing them to bring thier problem behaviors here. When I first got in to recovery,I was told,you stop drinking,stop using,and work the program.That was 35 years ago.Im still clean and sober.Yes it took alot of hard work,but no body who really wants to be clean,minds working on it.
Congratulations on your sobriety. :)
I noticed several posts supporting an expansion because it would assist homeless people. All this focus has been on Hope House. Where is the attempt to expand the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter on Main Street; the place that does not allow addicts? This is the mission statement: http://volunteer.truist.com/me/org/219153.html
Does this not make a lot more sense than encouraging addiction by take care of the addicted?
They have already increased the number of beds there and the same problems are evident in that area also.
Does anyone realize that there are also people who have homes that are addicts, alcoholics and sex offenders, look at the number of priests that commit sexual abuse?? Aren’t they sex offenders too? This is about homelessness…….any one of you could end up homeless any day of the week. Who would you be blaming then?