NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF

Lake Country residents, especially those in the Glenmore area, have nothing
to fear from a proposed addiction rehabilitation centre that plans to set
up shop in the area.

At least, that's what representatives from Teen Challenge told community
members last week at an information meeting they held after Mayor Rolly
Hein asked them to address the issues and fears circulating in the community.

While the Christian-based group is proud of the fact that their clients,
or, as they refer to them, students, are free to leave the program at any
time, they assured the residents that when a student does leave, they are
escorted to the bus station or airport for return to their starting point.

Those that stick with the program are subjected to isolation techniques
until they earn the right to wider contact, according to Brian Pierson, one
of the organization's directors.

"They give up their rights at the door," he says, "then they have to earn
them back."

Even then, students are never allowed into the outside community without
supervision.

The normally very smooth Mayor Rolly Hein was almost provoked to an
outburst when members of the Teen Challenge panel insisted that they had
been in contact with the community, including his office.

- --Steve Kidd photo All this talk did little to allay the concerns of local
residents, who see the lack of security around the building as an
invitation for trouble. Lake Country Mayor Rolly Hein, whose home is in the
same area as the treatment centre also expressed his concerns over Teen
Challenge's lack of openness or consultation with the community.

The Teen Challenge representatives, on the other hand, claim that they have
consulted with the community. According to Pat Petrauskas, one Teen
Challenge's local directors, the group has contacted and left information
with the mayor's office and the chamber of commerce.

Her husband Arnie, also a local director, also says they consulted with the
community, visiting local churches, and community clubs.

"Where else can we meet the community except in local churches?" he says.

Mayor Hein has a different view. "I have never had anyone at this table
contact me directly," he says. "I went to your international office to ask
for help because I couldn't get an answer anywhere in BC."

When the panel members insisted that they did in fact return all calls, and
that if he had called he would have received a response the next day, a
large segment of the audience protested, with shouts of "Are you calling
the mayor a liar?" ringing through Creekside Theatre.

Teen Challenge chose this location because of what they see as a very
serious drug problem, but when questioned as to whether there services
might not be needed more in a remote area like Prince George, director
Brian Pierson admitted that they need the large population base in the
Okanagan Valley in order to financially support the centre.

Addicts pay a fee of $500 to enter the program, according to Pierson, but
the actual cost of keeping them in the yearlong program is closer to
$22,000. That money comes from donors, so a large, affluent population base
is necessary to their success.

As well, Pierson says, part of the education process is linked with work in
the community, where the recovering addicts can be exposed to a normal
lifestyle, part of a process that the Teen Challenge web site says will
take the student to a point where they can function as a Christian in society.

Even though the Teen Challenge organization has more than 560 locations
around the world, Pierson admits that they are still learning how to
approach communities.

"If we did it again, we'd go to the Mayor's office first," he says,
admitting that their community approach through local churches might not be
the most effective way to reach the whole community.

But Pierson also admitted that it would be very difficult to come into a
community with a public process. One of the reasons the proposed site is
ideal for Teen Challenge is that it already has appropriate zoning,
according to Pierson, who adds that a public rezoning process might prove
difficult if not impossible.