I hope this is review is useful to people seeking help. This is for the Renovation House in…read moreSpencer, and is not a review of the New Jersey Renovation House which I think is run by a man who has more experience.
I helped a friend to enter RH in Spencer last fall--it was a $1,000 entry, and after the first month $400 per. All of this was very acceptable, and I was assured by the Reverend John Early that he was prepared to take in this individual who suffered from years of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. My friend had been studying Christianity and the Bible for years, and considered himself reborn, and he entered the program with an open heart though he is shy and was afraid. We were asked that he be off of medication, so he went off his meds as asked.
I accompanied him to the House, and he was being perfectly sweet until his first meeting with John Early. After that he was completely shut down (he is a great judge of character) and actually after I had a chance to meet John Early in that hour, I was worried--the Reverend talked a lot about himself and his accomplishments and his beautiful family, etc., and seemed to love to be in charge of "his men," but I didn't feel actual strong leadership or warmth. And yet I trusted.
My friend made it almost 2 months. I think the House is successful with a lot of people, but my friend did not trust John Early, who in fact was in his face about not having a great attitude from the start, and had even called me less than 24 hours after I'd left and let me know he was going to kick him out for being shut down, but that he'd put my thousand dollars toward someone who really wanted to be there. I was horrified that I'd thought this man might have a heart.
Days before Christmas I got a call from my friend, who as terrified--John Early had decided to let him go, and they were going to put him on a bus to Boston. At night, in the cold, period. My friend does not even carry a cellphone, and keep in mind that he no longer had his psyche meds with him.
I got on the phone with John Early who let me know that my friend didn't like him and that this was going to ruin his Christmas dinner at the House, and that he saw no problem with sending him off on a bus, that they had "tried everything." I asked him why he hadn't called me, the advocate, who could at least have helped, but this man is not they type of "leader" who thinks others have useful abilities. He let me know more than once that I was naive, and that some people can't be helped.
That doesn't mean they should be sent off like trash, however, and certain complete destruction. I never would have been so upset if he had reached out and helped me ease my friend out of there--I knew there was not a guarantee of his being helped. He did not relapse in his time there, and neither was he violent, but he did not trust the director and in the end, he was proven absolutely correct.
I managed to make the day-long drive out there and, I suppose because they didn't want me to show up at the House upset, they had put him into a motel in the middle of Ithaca NY for one night, with no way to pay for another night. I called ahead and paid for another night. Drug users everywhere around this hotel, which I saw by the time I'd arrived.
No matter the good this man may do for many people, I do hope he is judged by this act of total disregard for a vulnerable young man. And I hope that if you are reading this and thinking of helping someone into one of the many fine Christian programs that are available, I suggest you go for one with a strong track record and ability to stand behind their promises, but even more, if you or the person you love is truly complex, do not assume that John Early is the leader he told me that he is. He is not, and I will be forever sorry to have been someone who set my young friend on a backwards course rather than the forward one I'd sought for him. He is deeply damaged by this "Reverend's" final act.
Meanwhile, blessing and my very best wishes to anyone who is seeking help out there! Sending you my good thoughts.
