May 11, 2008
Healing Place Resolution Resurfaces; Caserta Gives Heads Up; Mayor Visits Louisville Site
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A resolution asking that Huntington City Council support the formation of the Healing Place of Huntington got off to a shaky start when first place before council. Now, council member Scott Caserta wants to, by waiver, add the resolution in support to Monday night’s council agenda.
When originally presented, Caserta and several council members pressed for detailed data on the facility including its possible location. Since then they have learned that Healing Place Huntington is just in early planning stages. All the group wants is a resolution of support. The Cabell County Commission has already approved such a resolution.
Caserta told council at the Friday work session, “I’m very supportive… there is not much reason to delay it to the end of the month.”
Chairwoman Mary Neely nodded that the first presentation was “vague,” would likely favor a simply “resolution of community support” that does not either approve or disapprove any specific location, since the Healing Place Huntington remains in the planning phase.
“Let’s go ahead and put our stamp on it,” Caserta said following the session. “Essentially what we are doing is saying we are supportive of rehabilitative programs such as this. They are good for society. They offer services that are alike and unlike a lot of facilities in the area. They have a high success rate with a proven track record,” Caserta continued referring to the Louisville program.
Referring to his initial concerns with the resolution, Caserta explained, “ I didn’t not support them in the beginning, I just wanted more information. I’ve got that information now… after attending the meeting Thursday night at Christ Temple.”
Caserta asked Finance and Administration Director Brandi Jacobs-Jones about Mayor Felinton’s position. Jacobs-Jones said that the Mayor, in fact, had traveled to Louisville to look at the functional site on which the Huntington program would be patterned. She felt the Mayor would be supportive, and, in a very brief exchange of cordialities he told me Saturday afternoon that the Louisville Healing Place was “awesome.”
A written presentation concerning The Healing Place (where hope is found describes “alcoholism and addiction” as “fatal diseases , killing the body and the individual’s relationship with themselves, with others, and with God.” The Louisville model tackles the number one American health problem “through a model of peer recovery, unconditional love and personal accountability… shifting the focus from entitlement to empowerment and breaking the cycle of addiction.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recognized it as a “Model that works” and it has been replicated in numerous Kentucky cities as well as others in the U.S.
Planning meetings of the Healing Place Huntington take place the second Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in Christ Temple Church. Additional information may be obtained through email: Bob.Hansen@The HealingPlaceofHuntington.org or by phoning him at (304) 525-7851 x 1133.
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Healing Place Resolution Resurfaces; Caserta Gives Heads Up; Mayor Visits Louisville Site
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A resolution asking that Huntington City Council support the formation of the Healing Place of Huntington got off to a shaky start when first place before council. Now, council member Scott Caserta wants to, by waiver, add the resolution in support to Monday night’s council agenda.
When originally presented, Caserta and several council members pressed for detailed data on the facility including its possible location. Since then they have learned that Healing Place Huntington is just in early planning stages. All the group wants is a resolution of support. The Cabell County Commission has already approved such a resolution.
Caserta told council at the Friday work session, “I’m very supportive… there is not much reason to delay it to the end of the month.”
Chairwoman Mary Neely nodded that the first presentation was “vague,” would likely favor a simply “resolution of community support” that does not either approve or disapprove any specific location, since the Healing Place Huntington remains in the planning phase.
“Let’s go ahead and put our stamp on it,” Caserta said following the session. “Essentially what we are doing is saying we are supportive of rehabilitative programs such as this. They are good for society. They offer services that are alike and unlike a lot of facilities in the area. They have a high success rate with a proven track record,” Caserta continued referring to the Louisville program.
Referring to his initial concerns with the resolution, Caserta explained, “ I didn’t not support them in the beginning, I just wanted more information. I’ve got that information now… after attending the meeting Thursday night at Christ Temple.”
Caserta asked Finance and Administration Director Brandi Jacobs-Jones about Mayor Felinton’s position. Jacobs-Jones said that the Mayor, in fact, had traveled to Louisville to look at the functional site on which the Huntington program would be patterned. She felt the Mayor would be supportive, and, in a very brief exchange of cordialities he told me Saturday afternoon that the Louisville Healing Place was “awesome.”
A written presentation concerning The Healing Place (where hope is found describes “alcoholism and addiction” as “fatal diseases , killing the body and the individual’s relationship with themselves, with others, and with God.” The Louisville model tackles the number one American health problem “through a model of peer recovery, unconditional love and personal accountability… shifting the focus from entitlement to empowerment and breaking the cycle of addiction.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recognized it as a “Model that works” and it has been replicated in numerous Kentucky cities as well as others in the U.S.
Planning meetings of the Healing Place Huntington take place the second Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in Christ Temple Church. Additional information may be obtained through email: Bob.Hansen@The HealingPlaceofHuntington.org or by phoning him at (304) 525-7851 x 1133.
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