To the Editor:

I am opposed to siting next to the “Main Street Revitalization Project” a home for people “transitioning” back to society from prison, inpatient drug and alcohol treatment or for people who lost homes due to the pandemic.

If the Project Turnkey grant under the CARES Act is truly being pursued for the benefit of bona fide Grant County residents only, then I feel there may be merit in it, and I could potentially be supportive of the idea. If the Dreamer’s Lodge motel is where this resource is ultimately positioned, however, I will never be in support of it.

Transitional housing is intended to give citizens who’ve had challenges a structured and supportive runway back into society. For a program of this nature to work well for the long term, it must be positioned as harmoniously as possible within the society it is intended to serve.

If the Dreamer’s Lodge transitional housing project comes to fruition, I suspect there will be many who will wonder why they were not surveyed or why there was no town hall to discuss the matter.

Regarding addicts, fewer than 20% of them who graduate from inpatient treatment will actually stay sober for one year. While you’re thinking about that, now consider the very real possibility of the defunding of John Day’s municipal police force. Sound familiar?

In my experience around the practice of giving and doing good, the question is never whether or not to be of service to others but rather when and how. There should be discernment with respect to when and how we serve our fellow man especially when its success depends upon the enrollment, agreement and support of the collective. This is a human services endeavor. We are not laying asphalt, pipe or building a new bridge here. This is a matter that is personal and intimate by nature and should be treated as such. It is not something that should be foisted upon a community by an authority but rather thoughtfully, synergistically and most of all collaboratively woven into the fabric of a town and community that we all love.

Paul Sweany

John Day