Church proposing rehab center for Crowley, area

Two men affiliated with Northside Assembly of God have a vision for Crowley that, if successful, just might bring the small city forward by leaps and bounds.
Gerard Morgan, associate pastor for care and facilities, and Josh Scanlan, associate pastor for outreach, have seen what their hometown of Crowley has become with drug-related violence and turf wars and more. They’ve had enough.
Northside Assembly of God has a vision that Morgan and Scanlan want to follow through — to launch a 12-month residential men’s drug and alcohol treatment facility in Crowley. This facility will serve Acadia Parish, as well as the surrounding parishes, by providing the remedy for what they term “the global drug crisis.”
Locally, the closest facility of this nature is Lafayette Teen Challenge. What Morgan and Scanlan are proposing is similar to Teen Challenge, but different as well. It will provide men with hope, restoration and healing from life-controlling issues through faith-based, Christ-centered character classes.
The men in the facility will also receive education for their G.E.D., if they do not already have one or a high school diploma, as well as vocational training in many areas to equip them to return as an asset to society, allowing them to give back what has been given to them in their second chance.
The group will look to Teen Challenge for cues, certainly, but the non-profit will not be affiliated with Teen Challenge. It will, however, be affiliated with Northside Assembly of God.
And, moreover, it will be a community endeavor.
It is a program that, like others, can boast up to an 87 percent success rate for those who complete the program.
“It’s something we are passionate about,” said Morgan during the program at the Rotary Club of Crowley meeting on Tuesday.
This facility would be called The Way Training Center and already has a proposed facility located at the end of VFW Drive, a fundraising goal of $300,000 for a start-up operations budget as well as other items and is already starting to create partnerships ahead of its hopeful November 2016 start up.
But, as Rotarian Joe Freeland pointed out, not everyone may be as susceptible to the program in residential areas and so forth, which is much of the same opposition the club and others heard in regard to The Welcome House years ago.
Scanlan explained that all are preparing for push back and have created alternate plans in case the proposed site cannot be obtained for one reason or another. He explained that the facility would still be housed in the outskirts of Crowley because they feel that location is important as the parish seat as well as from a jurisdiction standpoint and more. And, succinctly, he added, “we’re not naive to that, but, if God wants it to happen, it will.”
The two men have spent much time thinking the facility over and praying over it and have put their hearts into it, as was evident throughout their program.
Morgan and Scanlan also continued to push forth one more point, drug users like those overdosing on heroin in record numbers as well as alcohol abusers are not the strung-out hippies that many probably think of in these cases. Instead, drugs and alcohol are becoming far more suburban. Something Rotarians agreed they, too, have noticed.
“It’s become a middle class disease,” said Rotarian Sandy Melancon.
Through that, all noted that drugs have affected everyone’s lives, directly or indirectly. For some it has hit not only close, but in home, and that is why they support the idea and back Morgan and Scanlan’s plans.
“Y’all are going to have my support,” said Rotarian Ted Carmichael; “and I think y’all will have other people’s support in it.
“We need this.”
Carmichael then looked to his fellow Rotarians for support.
“We (Crowley) need this, badly,” he said. “I hope Rotary gets behind it. We did it with homeless; we can do it with this.”