NEIGHBORS BLAST PLAN FOR DRUG REHAB CENTER

Plans to expand a residential drug-treatment program to a drug-plagued
Marathon neighborhood don't make sense, residents of the area say. And
the fact that its facilities would be next to a day-care center with a
clientele of 50 preschoolers makes the plan even more ludicrous, they
say.

Those concerns, according to the plan's main proponent, would be more
than adequately addressed with 24-hour security and other safeguards.

Dave Rice, executive director of the Guidance Clinic of the Middle
Keys, wants to expand his Keys to Recovery program at 1669 Overseas
Highway to the Tropical Isle Apartments on 41st Street.

The six-month program is a court-ordered program for people with
drug-related convictions. It consists of substance-abuse treatment and
working in a job outside the facility.

Its U.S. 1 location has room for 12 clients. Rice said Tropical Isle
would be ideal for expansion. It has 23 units, four of which would be
for Keys to Recovery, the other 19 for "transitional housing" for
recovering addicts.

"We don't need any more drugs in this area, whether it's a cause or a
cure," said Earl Carty, an active member of Community of Concerned
Citizens in the 41st Street area.

Rice said the facility would cause no problems to the neighborhood,
which for years has been known for its easy access to drugs. For the
past several years, though, residents have made concerted efforts to
clean it up -- including bulldozing crack houses.

Tropical Isle Apartments is owned by the Monroe County Housing Finance
Authority, which is turning title over to the Monroe County Housing
Authority.

"We have not gone into any specifics into what Dr. Rice wants to do
over there," said Henry Haskins, executive director of the Housing
Authority. "It is so new, there has not been that much discussion
about it. There has not been any decision set in stone."

"We can we put our people in there; they are drug-screened on a
continual basis," Rice said. "There will not be drugs there. There
will be 24-hour supervision there."

Said Doris Hawkins, a long-time resident of the neighborhood known as
The Rock, "Why bring them here, where the drugs are?"

On top of that, residents said at a meeting Monday, the program would
bring more crime and endanger children.

Said Sally Billiter, executive director of the neighboring Grace Jones
Day Care Center, "They're going to put druggies in a drug atmosphere?
Oh, that makes sense. They're putting a jail in a residential
neighborhood next to a school. If that happens, these children will
have to be put someplace else ...."

"It's kind of like putting an alcoholic [in] a job in a bar," added
Concerned Citizens activist Leslie Lopez.

Rice and community members have scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. Nov. 29
at the Mt. Zion New Missionary Baptist Church.