RESIDENTIAL DRUG TREATMENT CENTER CLOSES IN ORLANDO

A drug-treatment center that operated without a license for about nine
months in downtown Orlando has closed after neighbors complained they did
not want recovering drug addicts in their neighborhood.

The men of Hogar CREA International have moved their belongings out of the
1926 bungalow on the corner of Hillcrest Street and Highland Avenue and
into the CREA center off Lancaster Road south of downtown.

David Olsen, director of the closed Orlando facility, said the neighbors
didn't understand their mission.

"What it comes down to is that the community is not familiar with our
services. We have an open-door policy, and anyone can come in and see what
we do. We are here to help the community," Olsen said.

CREA's Spanish acronym stands for Community for the Re-Education of
Addicts, and Hogar means "home." Most of the clients were Hispanic men
addicted to heroin, cocaine, alcohol, methamphetamine and other drugs,
Olsen said. The program's 21/2-year residential treatment begins with
intense counseling, family therapy and community service.

According to city records, CREA opened the center in September but never
applied for a permit to operate in a residential neighborhood. In October,
planning officials notified staffers at the center that they needed a
permit. CREA applied for the permit in April.

Rich Unger, Orlando's chief planning official, said his staff recommended
approving CREA's permit request, but the Municipal Planning Board denied
it. The center residents moved out last week.

"There were some issues about the size of the structure and the number of
people living in it," Unger said of the board's decision. The 1,800-
square-foot, three-bedroom center housed 14 full-time patients and three
staff members.

More than 100 residents signed a petition and e-mailed numerous requests to
the board and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan last week asking to close the
center.

Tom Cardin, who lives a few blocks from the facility, e-mailed Sheehan
expressing his concern that the center violated zoning laws.

"Instead of granting the rehab center a hearing . . . the city should be
evicting them. It is hard to imagine that a drug rehab center that feels
it's OK to break laws would be able to teach inmates otherwise," Cardin wrote.

Sheehan agreed with the planning board and said the facility needed to be
at least 500 feet from residential property. "I think the separation
requirement is essential when you're dealing with this type of facility in
a residential area," Sheehan said.

But CREA President Javier Garcia, whose father, Juan Jose Garcia Rios,
founded the program in 1968, said he didn't know he needed to apply for the
permits. "I just wanted to prepare the house so the city could see what
we're about and know the good we do for the community and our clients,"
said Garcia of Orlando.

The program was started in Puerto Rico by Garcia Rios, who battled his own
addiction. Since its creation, CREA says it has treated more than 50,000
addicts, with 28,000 successfully completing the program nationwide.

The nonprofit program is funded by donations. As part of their therapy, the
men bake their own recipe of sweet caramel flan and custard after Sunday
church services. Although they don't sell it, they accept donations.

Residents also complained that the center was one more social-service
in-house program in a neighborhood where there is an Alcoholics Anonymous
chapter and the Women's Residential and Counseling Center.

"Our neighborhood has its share of social-service programs. They are not
ideal for a residential area. We just don't need them," said Raymond G.
Cox, president of the Lake Eola Heights Historic Neighborhood Association.

However, Bob Rosen, who owns the CREA house, supported the group and said
the planning board's decision and community reaction are "very disappointing."

"After listening to these people and seeing what they do, I admire the
dedication and mission they perform," Rosen said.

The Lancaster Road center is outside the city limits, and Orange County
does not require that it have the same permits as the city, according to
the Orange County Property Appraiser's Office.

Unger said the city's decision could be appealed, but Garcia said he would
rather move to the Lancaster site even if it means housing only some of the
patients.

"It's a shame, really," he said. "Here we were helping these people, and
now we have to release them back to the streets, where they have no help,
no home or peace of mind."