If the Odyssey addiction recovery program does become a reality in Louisa, it is abundantly clear that it will not be welcomed by numerous residents of the city and Lawrence County. For that, Odyssey’s local leaders deserve much of the blame. Their silence has only fanned the flames of controversy and created the perception that they have something to hide.
Both the Louisa City Council and the Lawrence County Fiscal Court recently refused to endorse the addiction recovery program, and their decisions slammed the door on any possibility of the program receiving a $500,000 grant it had sought from the FIVCO Area Development District. But there was something noticeably missing from the meetings of both the city council and the fiscal court. While many opponents of Odyssey were at both meetings and spoke out against the treatment program, no one from Odyssey attended either meeting.
Tim Robinson, an elder of Community Fellowship and chairman of Odyssey, said the decision was made by leaders of the church to not attend the meetings to speak on behalf of the drug treatment program it wants to start. He said pastor Rick May and he “prayed it through and decided these meetings are people being driven by fear and misinformation,” adding that it likely would have turned into “a hollering match and God is not pleased with that.”
To be sure, discussions at the meetings could have become heated. But it would have been up to the mayor and the county judge-executive to control tempers and to maintain the reasonable level of civility at the meetings.
Both Robinson and May have repeatedly said that most of the opposition to they want to start in Louisa is based on fear and misinformation. They are probably right, but the best way to ease those fears and clear up misunderstandings is by meeting with people face-to-face, not by addressing those concerns on a Website where there is no chance for neighbors of the proposed facility to ask the questions that concern them about Odyssey.
Yet instead of attending the meetings where they could make their case for the treatment program and perhaps ease the fears of opponents, May and Robinson have referred those with questions about the program to its Website: www.odysseycenters.com. We have visited the site, and it does address the controversy and makes an attempt to ease fears about the program. However, it gives those concerned about the program no opportunity to ask questions about it.
Not receiving the FIVCO grant will not keep the church from moving forward with its plans for Odyssey, Robinson and May said. However, the support of the church’s neighbors and the community at large could play a vital role in the success of the drug treatment program, and from our vantage point, May and Robinson are doing little to even try to ease the fears of neighbors.
May and Robinson need to have a public meeting concerning Odyssey, either at the church where the program will be located or somewhere else in the community. Instead of hiding behind a Website, they need to meet with their neighbors and fully explain what they want to do. To not do so out of fear that it will turn into a hollering match is cowardly. On the other hand, being good neighbors is biblical.
Effective drug treatment programs are desperately needed throughout eastern Kentucky, and even many opponents of Odyssey admit that the abuse of prescription drugs is rampant in Louisa. That’s why we believe that if the leaders of Odyssey can convince residents that the program will be a positive force in the community, many of its opponents will become supporters. But that won’t happen until the church lifts its veil of secrecy.
