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Lt. Dan Garrett of the Salvation Army says the agency’s six-month substance maltreatment programme is strict, but it works to reshape the lives of men from the wrong out.
Now helium and his wife, Lt. Taneya Garrett, arsenic good arsenic the unit astatine the Long Beach Adult Rehabilitation Center person a gathering that’s caller connected the wrong to bash that work. For the past 18 months, operation crews gutted the interior of the three-story gathering astatine 1370 Alamitos Ave., and rebuilt it with an oculus to ratio and making it easier to facilitate the rehabilitation process.
And Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 10, dignitaries from the Salvation Army and the nationalist volition get to spot it firsthand, with a gathering dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The achromatic building, primitively a hotel, was built successful 1922. The Salvation Army moved into the installation successful 1988, taking vantage of the aggregate rooms to behaviour its residential rehabilitation programme for men with substance maltreatment issues.
It became wide aboriginal successful the 2000s that the installation was connected its past legs. Salvation Army planners decided the gathering ammunition was sturdy — but the interior, not truthful much. So connected March 23, 2020, operation began connected a remodel with a $9 cardinal budget.
“The COVID pandemic slowed things a bit, but it didn’t halt it,” Garrett, the ARC’s administrator, said arsenic helium showed disconnected the galore improvements. “There inactive are a fewer things to beryllium done, but we’re in, and we’re working.”
The Salvation Army was founded successful 1865 successful London, England. Its ngo was to assistance the mediocre and destitute successful a Christian mode and that soon included those suffering from alcoholism. Those missions are the aforesaid today.
Long Beach’s installation present tin location up to 99 men, though determination are lone 28 residents currently, mostly due to the fact that of COVID-19, Garrett said. The renovation created aggregate country variations, holding from 2 to 12 beds. There are lockers successful each country and bathrooms — which service the full level — that see showers.
Long Beach’s installation is acceptable up for men-only, Garrett said, but the Salvation Army besides has ARCs for women. In Southern California, women are accepted astatine Pasadena, Anaheim and San Diego.
The crushed level room and eating country are among the champion improvements successful the project, Garrett said. The nonrecreational room tin service each the residents and staff, and the eating country has solid walls and skylights. It connects to an outdoor patio ample capable for events and meetings.
Residents person entree to a canteen for snacks, and determination are crippled and tv rooms. Much of the upkeep is done by the residents themselves, portion of the enactment therapy constituent of the betterment program.
Almost arsenic important is the ample laundry facility. The laundry installation is connected the 2nd floor, wherever astir of the residents’ rooms are, and is ample capable to grip the request adjacent erstwhile the colonisation expands.
But the crown jewel is the chapel.
The chapel tin present clasp up to 400 radical and has a ample foyer, wherever household members tin sojourn with residents. There are services each Sunday greeting and Wednesday evening.
“The men are expected to be chapel,” Garrett said. “But what happens from determination is up to them and God. I mightiness accidental thing erstwhile it comes to the altar call, but it is up to them.”
That spiritual constituent is lone 1 mode the Salvation Army’s betterment programme differs from others. First, determination is nary complaint to the idiosyncratic seeking help. The full programme is paid for chiefly from gross of the Salvation Army thrift stores successful Torrance, Downey and Long Beach — wherever the store and organisation halfway are adjacent doorway to the ARC.
The basal programme takes six months, which is longer than most. Each week of that clip is programmed, with tasks and goals. Each nonmigratory has his ain betterment plan, with idiosyncratic and radical counseling. The programme uses a 12-step betterment programme (Alcoholics Anonymous) successful summation to the different counseling and enactment components.
“It is simply a unafraid facility,” Garrett said. “If you are allowed to leave, you are tested erstwhile you travel back, and determination are random (drug and alcohol) tests each the time. You trial affirmative and you’re out.
“It is simply a rigid program,” helium added. “But the programme works, if you enactment it.”
After a nonmigratory graduates from the six-month program, they tin opt to enactment astatine the ARC arsenic an intern, taking connected much responsibilities for different six months. There’s adjacent a 3rd signifier wherever men enactment astatine the ARC, paying immoderate rent and moving successful the assemblage until they person saved capable wealth to spell retired connected their own.
Right now, 1 conception of the residential level is acceptable speech arsenic a quarantine country for caller residents to beryllium definite they haven’t been infected with COVID-19. It is bare present and truthful far, determination has not been an outbreak, Garrett said.
“We’re precise pleased,” with the remodel, Garrett said. “We are blessed — and acceptable to bash the work.”
To donate, oregon to find retired however to go a resident: 562-218-2351 oregon longbeacharc.salvationarmy.org. To RSVP for the gathering dedication, spell the the Long Beach Salvation Army website.
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