CHALLENGE NURSERIES HELPS WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE RECOVERY

DUBLIN - A couple of years ago, acquiring crack cocaine consumed Joe
Tillman's thoughts.

Today he concerns himself with watering azaleas, fertilizing crape myrtles
and trying to tell the difference between apple and plum trees. He humbly
admits he doesn't know everything about horticulture. "I've still got a lot
to learn," Tillman said as he examined the leaves of a group of unidentified
fruit trees at Challenge Nurseries. "I'm not the most knowledgeable person."

The nursery is a project for Teen Challenge, a faith-based drug and alcohol
recovery center in Laurens County. But don't be fooled by the name, a
holdover from the group's origins. It was formed by a country preacher 44
years ago to help New York gang members. Most of the 80 residents at Teen
Challenge in Laurens County are adults of all ages. Tillman is 47. He is the
manager of the nursery, which was started not only to help raise money for
the center but also to give residents job skills. As a religious
organization, Teen Challenge gets no government funding. Its $500 initiation
fee is just a fraction of the annual $5,000 per-student cost of the one-year
program. It relies on donations and money generated from a variety of work
programs.

Though the nursery program is 3 years old, it is just now getting close to
becoming a money-maker. It has grown to 10,000 plants and 100 different
varieties. "It hasn't been a financial producer yet," said Mitch Melton,
director of Teen Challenge. "It's about a three-to five-year plan to get it
to where it will bring in some income."

One problem is most people don't even know the nursery is selling to the
public. Though its two greenhouses and array of plants are clearly visible
from U.S. 441 South, there is no sign advertising it to motorists. That's
something Melton hopes to change in the near future. As a companion project,
the center has a crew that goes off grounds to do landscaping work, often
using plants grown at the nursery. Whether the nursery and landscaping
project make money or not, Melton sees it as contributing to the center's
goals.

"They enjoy landscaping and they enjoy the outdoors," he said. "Some of the
guys have never even had to maintain a yard. I think they enjoy seeing stuff
grow." The nursery is a cooperative effort with Heart of Georgia Technical
College in Dublin. An instructor comes to the center to teach a horticulture
class. Tillman does most of the work at the nursery, with help from a few
other residents. For most residents, Teen Challenge is a one-year program,
but Tillman is in for two years because his residency is part of a
court-ordered sentence. But he enjoys his work. It helps take his mind off
of his addiction, and it beats prison any day.

"You can't take a few days off, especially this time of year," he said as he
moved around a sprinkler. "To keep everything green and healthy is a day's
work." Tillman has some advice regarding crack cocaine.

"Never even try it to start with," he said. "You could take the most moral
person you know and if they were to smoke crack cocaine, in less than a week
it would take such a hold, they would throw away everything they have."