Letter To The Editor:
We fell in love with Alton. Its warm community, hospitality, and acceptance stood out among many wonderful qualities for us as we made the big decision to move and raise our family here. It's disheartening to witness what appears to be a pre-emptive attack on a group of people, without a clear understanding of who they are or the positive impact they could bring to our town, before they’ve been given an opportunity to be good neighbors.
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The concerns raised by fellow residents about the recovery house are completely appreciated and understandable. However, let’s please first approach this issue with an open mind and a willingness to learn about what an Oxford House truly represents, and who it serves. With over a decade of experience in the recovery community in St Louis, I’ve seen firsthand lives turn around at Oxford Houses, producing men and women with a zeal to give back to life. So I reached out to Oxford Inc with my own concerns, and relayed the ones I heard from community members. A representative for this region returned my call, filled in the gaps, and provided hope for the future of this Oxford House in Middletown.
One of the details most essential to clarify is that this is not a “rehabilitation center”, rather a home where individuals, who have acknowledged their struggle with addiction, come together to support each other on their journey to recovery. How they self-organize and their resulting success, just as in the tradition of AA, is nothing short of miraculous.
The issue of shared housing is not unique to the Oxford House, Alton has many residents sharing homes with unknown backgrounds. Is the concern that the men at Turning Point, who have admitted their struggles and are actively seeking to better themselves, specifically pose a security threat? On the contrary, their commitment to self-improvement and helping others do the same is commendable, and needed. When your brother-in-law has pulled the final straw, and your sister needs him out, would you rather have him on your couch, or among a group of men experienced with living sober?
Should he be banished to the seediest part of town, surrounded by the vices he’s seeking to overcome, or in a neighborhood you want to live in, embraced by friends and neighbors providing an example to live up to? We must help lift up those amongst us who have admitted they need help and want to grow as part of our community. How do we do this by casting them away to “somewhere else”? The worries raised that most pulled at our heartstrings were those concerning the safety of children, which is dear to us as we always are looking out for the safety of our own young ones. Upon getting to know the men at this house, MIddletown neighbors will discover that some of these men are grateful their own children now have a safe and clean environment to visit their fathers.
If none of these petitions to reasonable human courtesy speaks to you, I hope you’ll consider the situation from an economic perspective. Significant time, effort, and emotional energy has already been applied to forcing these new neighbors to leave. If citizens continue to impel the city to go as far as they legally can go, this will amount to a large financial and administrative burden, which based on precedent from Oxford Inc’s decades of operation, will ultimately fall short of evicting the tenants from town. We’ll end up where we started: needing to build relationships and be good neighbors. Instead of running after anxieties stemming from pure fear and conjecture, there are known issues that our scarce resources can be applied toward making Alton better for everyone.
Moreso, our representatives need to work toward bringing people to Alton, instead of pushing them away. As we toil through this together, I’d like to share the long form of the Serenity Prayer, which has provided me much peace in times of uncertainty: “GOD, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; and that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him in the next. Amen.”
Humbly, Anonymous Alcoholic in Alton
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