| Rick Pendery has spent the last 30 years working in | | | | project was not touched.", Pendery remembers. "We |
| substance abuse programs and feels that he's got the | | | | had reached out to the community and provided many |
| keys to reduce recidivism. | | | | in the local area jobs, so they protected the project." |
| Rick Pendery founded and ran a six year pilot of the | | | | About a later project, Pendery says, "I was one of the |
| Second Chance Program in Ensenada and Tijuana, | | | | general partners on two inner-city redevelopment |
| Mexico as well as another pilot in for nearly two years | | | | projects in San Diego, in which we took major |
| in Puerto Rico. The Second Chance Program freed | | | | apartment complexes in two of the roughest areas of |
| over 6000 inmates from the interminable treadmill of | | | | San Diego and renovated them. We ran community |
| drug addiction that leads to more crime and | | | | programs to help regenerate community involvement |
| re-incarceration. He has now successfully opened a | | | | and pride in those areas. On one of the projects we |
| 600 bed secure rehabilitation facility located in the | | | | worked closely with the Muslim Community and in |
| vacated Westside Jail west of Albuquerque, New | | | | finding affordable housing for refugees from Africa. |
| Mexico. | | | | We took one of the apartments which had a |
| His road as a substance abuse expert began in the | | | | recreation room, made it a prayer room and gave the |
| 70s when he worked first in a methadone clinic. But | | | | local Imam the adjacent apartment with a private |
| there he saw too many people walk out of the clinic, | | | | entrance to the prayer room. The apartment complex |
| into the parking lot and buy heroin. This treatment was | | | | was quickly filled up with Muslims from Africa. The |
| clearly ineffective. Looking around, Pendery came | | | | residents of this apartment complex were very |
| across a program called Narconon. This program he | | | | effective in cleaning up the neighborhood and reducing |
| found to be very effective. Working with them for | | | | the drug use in that area of San Diego. Their high |
| several years he became the chief administrator for a | | | | ethics level permeated the surrounding neighborhoods." |
| Narconon Program, in El Paso Tex. Later he was | | | | Pendery continues, "The other area, known as Bates |
| promoted to be the Executive Director for the | | | | Street, was an area where there were frequent |
| program and eventually became the senior | | | | shootings, drugs were rampant and it was the real |
| administrator over 30 Narconon programs in the US. | | | | Ground Zero for San Diego. We worked with various |
| Narconon uses the Drug Rehabilitation Technology | | | | members of the San Diego community on projects |
| developed by L. Ron Hubbard. The program has a | | | | ranging from Federal Express coming in and putting on |
| drug-free withdrawal step, a sauna detoxification step | | | | Thanksgiving Day dinners, to the San Diego Charger |
| and an additional life skills training section with courses | | | | Football Team and some of its players working in that |
| in communication, remedial education. Also, it has | | | | community to help bring back pride and a sense of self |
| classes specifically designed to help the individual | | | | worth. One Thanksgiving Day, our project was shown |
| understand the reasons why he started using drugs | | | | on national television, during the halftime show of a |
| and giving him tools to combat the urge to use drugs in | | | | college football game, with members of the Chargers, |
| order to live a drug-free life. Pendery feels that these | | | | the San Diego Padres baseball team and members of |
| steps together cultivate self respect in these former | | | | the local college football team working with the Federal |
| addicts. | | | | Express piling up lots of turkey. We worked with |
| Pendery started his first Second Chance Center in the | | | | various local churches and used the book the Way to |
| mid 90's. He explains why, "I saw two things occurring. | | | | Happiness, a common sense moral guide written by L. |
| Drug use seemed to be generally growing and the | | | | Ron Hubbard, in some of the programs that we were |
| crime rate in many categories was increasing as well. | | | | doing.". |
| The number of people incarcerated almost doubled in | | | | "The crime rate dropped from the highest in San Diego |
| 1990s and because of this, the budgets for the | | | | almost to zero and the neighborhood was revitalized. |
| Department of Corrections were starting to bankrupt | | | | Business returned, other developers moved in and |
| our states. I had previously run a successful drug | | | | renovated the rest of the community. The only |
| rehab program called Narconon, which was both | | | | problem was that the really bad residents just moved |
| effective in reducing recidivism as well as was able to | | | | to another section of the city and that area became |
| scale up to where it could economically deliver to large | | | | the highest homicide and drug area," said Pendery. |
| numbers of people at once. I felt that this approach | | | | "This is why I decided we had to work out how to |
| was particularly suited to the criminal justice system | | | | rehabilitate large numbers of criminals and drug addicts |
| where they had approximately 80 percent of | | | | while they were incarcerated. This is an opportunity |
| incarcerated offenders with prior drug histories. With | | | | while there is some control exhibited on these fellows |
| over 2 million people currently incarcerated in the | | | | that is currently being squandered by the government. |
| United States it's been cost prohibitive for those | | | | Just look at the failure rate - 65% or more return to |
| offenders to get rehabilitated in that system. According | | | | prison within three years of release" |
| to the US Dept of Justice, the stats shows that over | | | | Rev. Alfreddie Johnson is the founder and director of |
| 65% of those who have been incarcerated, within | | | | the World Literacy Crusade in Compton, Ca and the |
| three years, return to prison. I wanted to bring a | | | | Mayor Pro-Tem of Lynwood Ca. He feels, "Second |
| workable drug and criminal rehab program to the | | | | Chance Program is the program for the future as far |
| criminal justice system." | | | | as the rehab and restoration of dignity and self |
| Pendery found more ways to assist his communities | | | | respect for former criminals, bringing humanity to the |
| as a real estate developer. He had begun that career | | | | society. That can be done with that program. Rick |
| in the late 70s, continued in the 80s and 90s, gradually | | | | Pendery is a pioneer among pioneers, rehabilitating the |
| becoming more involved in inner-city redevelopment. | | | | human spirit and restoring men back to being men." |
| One such project was redeveloping a section of Los | | | | Three independent university studies were done that |
| Angeles that had burned down in the Watts Riots. | | | | measured one outcome, did the released offender |
| One of these projects was under construction in the | | | | return to prison? Each of these studies showed that |
| middle of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. | | | | less than 10 percent of those who participated in the |
| "Buildings around us were burned to the ground but our | | | | Second Chance programs returned to prison. At the |
| partially constructed three story affordable-housing | | | | helm of this program is Rick Pendery. |