HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-19 Public Comment - A. Mansfield - Recovery House1
Robin Crough
From:Ashley Mansfield <ashleymansfield@hotmail.com>
Sent:Friday, July 26, 2019 3:20 PM
To:Agenda
Subject:Residential Treatment Facility
Categories:Public Comment
Good Afternoon,
I am writing in opposition to the proposed residential treatment facility at the corner of Westridge and Graf.
Without all the facts I'm not sure what type of facility this would be or who would be eligible and for what
periods of time or with what sort of legal record or dependencies/addictions they bring. I don't know if the
men who would be living here would be there on a court order or of their own volition. What I picture when I
hear "residential treatment facility for 12 men" is 12 of my little brother living in one small house and that
scares me.
For the past 25 years, my family and I have been living in a world I wish did not exist. The world I reference in
the world of drug abuse and the legal system. My little brother began smoking pot when he was young teen
and getting into minor trouble here and there. As he began experimenting with harder and harder drugs, he
catapulted himself into a realm in which he would never escape. He was ordered to live in residential homes
from time to time and in these homes he learned all sorts of new tips and tricks from men who had been in
the system longer than he had. He learned how to bide his time and play nice enough to be released and
ultimately end up right back where he had been. From jail to home to jail to rehab to court to community
service to therapy to jail, repeat!...he did this over and over and over. He is a convicted felon at 38 and lives at
home with my parents in a "sober home" and he still manages to not be sober despite going through a
methadone program maybe twice? He wakes up at random times every day, goes outside to chain smoke
cigarettes or vape, play games on his phone and ask whoever walks by for a buck or even more and has no
qualms about asking a child or an elderly person or a teenager, it doesn't matter. My children who are 6, 9 and
11 walk to school and the route they are told to go is the "safe way" because there is a crossing guard and a
crosswalk from our neighborhood to their elementary school right in the backyard of the proposed treatment
facility. I picture my children crossing the street and every morning and afternoon being met by 1, 2, 4, or 12
men sitting outside and asking for a buck. My children would walk right up to them and give them whatever
money they had and even offer to bring backs snacks because of how we are raising them. I DO NOT WANT
MY CHILDREN TO HAVE THIS IN THEIR FACES TWICE A DAY! We, as a family, do our part through charitable
giving and volunteering our time all over town to help to our part with community wellness and intervention.
It's a tough call on how we reconcile our need to help out members of society and our children at the same
time. I don't know what the answer is but having this type of facility at this location is not appropriate.
I appreciate your time in reading my opinion,
Ashley Mansfield
3132 Spring Ridge Drive
Bozeman, MT 59715