SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM GROWS FROM FAMILY STRUGGLES

MAUK, Ga. - Norman and Jane Carter of Butler watched their two
children overcome serious substance abuse problems, then decided to
set up a program to help others.

Son Trey had been an All-American tennis player on a national
championship team at the University of Georgia before getting caught
up in drugs. Their daughter Cathy, also a UGA graduate, became an alcoholic.

The son entered Anchor Hospital in College Park, Ga., a mental
health/addiction hospital, for treatment of his drug problem in 1993.
He returned to the hospital in 2003, this time as CEO of the
170-employee hospital, Norman Carter said. The daughter, now Cathy
Carter Marsh, underwent treatment for her alcoholism and now works on
St. Simons Island. Both are doing well.

"I had to write a check for $15,000 just to get them in the door,"
Norman Carter said. "We saw people being dismissed, we thought
prematurely, after 20 days of treatment. I asked the counselor why
these other people were being dismissed and my children were here for
months. He said their insurance ran out and they didn't have resources.

"We thought how fortunate we were, prayed over it, talked and decided
we would start a facility not based on wealth or privilege, but it
would be for people who had a genuine desire to turn their lives
around for Jesus Christ."

The Carters were led to establish The Golden Rule in Mauk, Ga., a home
for women 18 years and older who are victims of drug or alcohol abuse.
It is financed through donations and grants. Women must commit to stay
at least nine months on the 30-acre residential campus along a rural
Taylor County dirt road, miles from any conveniences.

Carter, 66, a Talbotton native who attended Mercer University on a
basketball scholarship, was an educator for three decades, closing out
a successful career after 21 years as superintendent of the Taylor
County Schools in 1990. He still works part-time for the Regional
Education Services Agency in Ellaville, Ga.

He set up the program so that women are not charged a fee for room,
board, clothing or other expenses, unless they complete the intensive
residential program, go into the halfway house there and get a
full-time job. Then they pay $100 a month, Carter said.

He said some women show up with "everything they own in a paper
sack."

Responsibility

The residents do all the cleaning and cooking and lawn care. They also
plant and care for a garden during the growing season. They even do
some maintenance work.

Carter said the program is based on five factors:

Spirituality: "We don't believe you can get clean or sober without a belief
in a higher power," Carter said Friday.

Longevity: "We have a nine-month minimum. We've never kicked anybody out.
They've kicked themselves out by breaking the rules."

Responsibility: "We teach that you're like that because you chose to be that
way. They get up at a certain time, make up their beds and do chores."

Attitude: "You've got to exhibit an attitude of gratitude. People aren't
going to give you money if you don't act like you appreciate it."

Education: "Most of these women don't have sufficient skills to hold down a
decent job. We have a partnership with Flint River Technical College. Every
girl in our intensive program is involved in school five days a week. They
are expected to get their GED. Those with a GED are involved in computer
training, customer service courses and others."

Help from outside

The project started in 1997 with one trailer, but growth soon
occurred. Carter applied for foundation grants and the funds began to
come in. The Peyton Anderson Foundation in 2001 provided $110,000
which paid for a a 15-bed dormitory facility with a sizeable living
room area, equipment and other facilities. Peed Brothers Inc. of
Butler donated $20,000 in the spring 1998 to help with a 13-bed dorm
building. St. Francis Hospital in Columbus donated desks and had just
enough to provide one per dorm room. Many area churches chip in
$100-$200 to help with expenses. Now the campus includes nine
buildings and The Golden Rule is only $10,000 in debt.

The latest grant is $98,600, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural
Development grant to provide operating funds, expand facilities,
including a 16-foot by 56-foot exercise building with stationary bikes
and other equipment, plus a mounted TV to play exercise tapes. Stone
Workman, state director of Rural Development in Georgia, is expected
to be among those attending the check awards ceremony at 11 a.m.
Thursday on the campus.

Carter said he wrote every Superior Court judge, probation and parole
office and treatment center in Georgia and sent them a brochure about
the program before starting up.

"Most of our girls are either probated here or court-ordered here," he
said. "A few voluntarily came with no consequences if they left. A
couple from Columbus did very well."

Residents proud

Several women residents interviewed Friday said the program is
substantially improving their lives, the first time many have found a
program that works.

"We do have hard days here," said Ariel, 27, of LaGrange, Ga., part of
the program for six months. "But our hard days here are better than
our best days out there. We are learning we can deal with our
struggles without running to drugs. I've learned to love people
unconditionally even though I don't know who they are."

Angela, 32, of Lakeland, Ga., was a nurse from 1990-98 in Florida.
Since age 13, she said, Angela has used drugs off and on, including
crack cocaine. She was convicted of writing bad checks, credit card
fraud and possessing crack cocaine. Angela lost custody of two
children and her career.

"I'm addicted to everything," she said. "I saw my whole life falling
apart. My probation officer found out about The Golden Rule. I believe
it was God's grace. He knew my heart and how badly I wanted to stop.
This is truly a blessed program. Slowly but surely things are changing."

Spreading out

The intensive program will accommodate 30 women, who live in modern,
clean, comfortable modular dormitory buildings. Four halfway houses
serving up to eight people are on a separate lot nearby. Most of the
women live two to a room. The facility provides eight computers for
instruction and one computer with internet access that is closely
supervised.

Helping them deal with their drug problems are a certified
professional counselor for individual counseling; a certified
addiction counselor; and a counselor with a master's degree in social
work. Three dentists volunteer their services and two doctors work
with them.

Those who help supervise the program day to day graduated from the
program and understand what the women are experiencing, Carter said.
That includes Harriet Felts, the case manager who was court-ordered
there for treatment.

"I was forging prescriptions for narcotics," Felts said. "I was a
nurse for 15 years and lost my license because of addiction. The judge
saw fit to give me a chance to come to The Golden Rule. I went to work
there in September 1999 and been there ever since. I know this is what
I am supposed to be doing. I've gone to school and am working on my
certification in addiction counseling. I try to lead by example."