With two entities considering use of the Marion County BusinessPlex for drug rehab services, the Board of Supervisors heard an update from one Monday.
Local pastor Tango Downs shared his vision and progress for a transitional living facility at the former Columbia Training School. Supervisors will also discuss the topic again next month with representatives from Poplarville-based Jacob’s Well and Damascus Road Ministries.
“I went and preached at the City of Refuge recovery program yesterday and was really encouraged,” Downs said. “A gentleman that we helped get into that program graduated. It’s a program where they graduate and are successful and now the challenge is keeping them straight. That’s what the first part of our program is going to be about. It’s about transitional living. It’s taking guys that live in these communities, Hattiesburg, Marion County, Jeff Davis County and all of these counties around us and helping them.”
Downs said he had been helping people for seven years and taken around 150 people to rehab and not had much success. But then he said they learned about transitional living, where he said the success rate goes from about 10 percent to 70 percent.
Downs said Home of Grace, a drug rehab program in Vancleave, is partnering with Downs’ group to help get his project started.
“They don’t have transitional living, but they have a 45 percent success rate in their program and it is strictly a biblically-taught program,” he said. “They use no psychology; they use no drugs, no mood-altering substances whatsoever. With that being said, they are the most successful program in the county percentage wise. They want to have a place they can send their people – a Christian-based program.”
Downs said his group is working on finishing its nonprofit tax status and had its budget and mission statement completed.
“We will have the Path program completed so we can hand you a packet and say we’re ready to open doors,” he said. “The transitional living program will not take much to get it open and running. We will divide rooms into two-man cubicles. We will provide transportation to and from work for them. They will stay under our care 24 hours a day. There will be partners in the community that you know, people that will teach them trades. The rules are extremely strict.
“We all are accountable to someone and these guys have to learn these principals. We will teach them not only work skills, but life skills. We will help them be stabilized and get them to be taxpaying citizens.”
Downs said he just wanted to provide an update. The board offered no questions and took no action on the proposal.
