A MISSION TO COOPERATE

Tallevast, Salvation Army Should Try to Work Out Their Differences

The Salvation Army does so much good, it seems an unlikely target for
organized opposition. The missionary church takes its sermon and songs
to the streets, offers shelter to the homeless, and stations the
familiar bell ringers at stores to raise funds for the needy during
the holiday season. To many U.S. military veterans, the Salvation Army
was the source of a ticket home from an overseas post during a family
emergency.

But to many residents of the south Manatee County community of
Tallevast, the Salvation Army is the source of a plan that they feel
will diminish their quality of life. They oppose the Army's plan to
build a 120-bed rehabilitation center at Tallevast Road and U.S. 301,
mainly because they fear that some of the center's clients -- men with
drug and alcohol addictions -- will loiter in their neighborhood and
disrupt it.

Salvation Army Maj. Jim Lane says those fears are unfounded. He points
out that the proposed center, the plans for which he'll present to
Tallevast residents today, is a residential facility, not a shelter
that provides the homeless with food, clothing and a place to sleep.
He says that the clients will remain in the center, and that those who
leave will likely head for Bradenton or Sarasota rather than stay in
Tallevast.

Nevertheless, we urge Lane to make a thorough presentation of his
plans today, and to listen to the Tallevast residents' concerns. We
hope the residents, in turn, will be open to the Army's proposal and
the good that such a center can do, and will offer ideas for improving
the plan. Perhaps the Army could agree to transport clients who leave
the center to their home communities, thus easing the fears of intrusion.

For both sides, openness and a striving for compatibility should be
the priorities.