Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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When the sun shines at Sam’s Place

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The sun rose quickly but was not seen, the smoke that filled the air that morning was suffocating and thick. The sun’s rays hit the sky and created a reddish glow and although the sun was there, you could only feel the heat in the air… the air… it was choking, burning and I felt weak… I thought “Am I sick?”

The AC had just been started a week earlier, and I can’t even imagine how it would have felt that day without the windows closed and AC on high. It’s an old building, I imaged how bad it would have been if the smoke had hit only a couple weeks earlier… The AC was heavenly.

The guys still ventured out from time to time but I noticed the front door squeaking less often that day. I heard one person say the air quality was the “worst recorded air quality in world history”… Was that true? I don’t know. What I do know is I was working outside all day and it was taking its toll… Buggars, I know, we don’t talk about body functions but I knew the mucus system was in overload that day, nasal passages swollen and smoke being filtered, still not enough…. It was a long day, but I was glad we had done so much to control the indoor air quality for our Guys at Sam’s Place… I will take that as a win in every way.

Thanks to some grants that helped ease the costs and made it possible: Blandin Foundation, IRRRB, Bigfork Valley Community Foundation, Spring Lake Heating and Air and more… we pooled together to make the lives of our guys safer, just in the nick of time.

I worked hard installing the 19 indoor mini-split heads, days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, the planning, research and finally the implementation…

Is it cool now? Yes.

Is the indoor air cleaner? Yes.

Are there BIG smiles from ear to ear? Yes.

Is it safer for our guys that use inhalers? YES!!

And so that story goes. A big win at Sam’s Place. Thanks to all our local supporters, grant opportunities and people that simply care, and show how much they care by HELPING Sam’s Place succeed! Making life a bit more bearable and allowing our guys to focus on getting life back on track, one cool bedroom at a time. 

In the service of the one that gave it all, C.

You CAN, a tribute of honor to those that DID

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I wrote this to our guys at Sam’s Place and decided to share it with you as well.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of imperfect people made a bold decision to choose freedom and build a nation based on resilience and the pursuit of happiness.

Today, right here in Bigfork, you are fighting that exact same battle.

Recovery from addiction isn’t about being perfect; it is about taking responsibility, practicing how to build personal grit, and making one small change today for a brighter tomorrow.

One small choice, that is how it started for Jess and Myself, The right choice, one at a time.

You are building the foundation for your own personal “Declaration of Independence”. 

Every morning you wake up and put one foot in front of the other at Sam’s Place, you are choosing to reclaim your life. 

When you overcome just one hurdle, when you turn away from that negative person in your life and replace the person that would lead you to using again with someone that makes better choices and then lean on this community, you are proving that you can beat the power of addiction.  You can win, if you want your life back!

This nation’s 250th birthday reminds all of us what’s possible. America was built on the belief that hard work matters and that transformation is always within reach. You are the master designers of your own future.

Keep showing up for yourself. Do you have the courage it takes to say no? Do you have the courage of our forefathers to get life back on track? Do you want to survive, or thrive? 

You have the strength to rebuild your life. I know each of you can make that better choice today, because you are not the first to battle this and win, thousands of guys have gone before you to show you the way.

Happy Birthday America, and here is to your bright, free from addiction future.

In service to the savior, C.

Law means nothing

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My cheap excuses for not writing:

I have been busy with studying the laws, all the laws that pertain to Sam’s Place, A Board and Lodge with Supplemental Services (BLSS). Simply put, we are a Boarding House and a Lodge that supplies Supplemental Services… Plainly put, we provide services to help guys get their lives stabilized and help them learn how to recognize when things are going “off the rails” as soon as possible to help prevent another disaster. We help keep guys out of jail, off the streets, clean, sober, healthy… we actually save the taxpayers a lot of money in what we do, we don’t just “house guys” we help them get their lives back.

We are recognized specifically under MN statues 504B, 327, 144G and a few other places. 

We have some considerations as a health care facility, a Hotel/Motel and a long term living facility. We are mentioned in MN st 327 which covers transient guests, protecting us under this section from undesirable guests. We are also mentioned in MN St 144G which protects Health care facilities, this section gives us assistance with guests whose needs are in excess of our scope and function.  504B covers landlord/tenant rights which clearly protects a landlord from “tenancy” in the first 30 days. BUT….

So the long story made short is this: As a BLSS I want to know my protections under MN law, I also want to know how the “law enforcement” of our county is going to respond to certain situations. As the operator, I need to know this to protect our operation, to prevent violation of our guests rights and protect ourselves from liabilities, but most important of all is to protect our guys from the temptations of failing again. 

We are very concerned about protecting our guys from undesirable situations that may cause instability in their lives,they are working hard to figure out life, get life fixed.

Most of our guys don’t want to be a burden. They may have been a tile setter, part of a lawn maintenance crew, carpenter, or a painter. Sure some have made disastrous choices that brought them to us. Not all of our guys made bad choices, they may have been just living life, going to work daily and life dealt them a bad hand that they can’t manage alone, a bad divorce, a mental break with reality, a layoff from a great job, an abusive parent… 

This is what brings me to today’s blog post… how can we help, how can I protect and how can we help stabilize the lives of our guys… How can we help them get life back on track? Part of that is knowing the legal system… knowing the law is only part of the battle. 

What I have learned so far: 

The law be damned! We don’t follow the MN Statutes! Just because something is clearly written does not mean it is the “law”… I was told that even if a person is trespassing, the county attorney will not prosecute trespassing, it usually turns into “disorderly conduct”… 

Drug paraphernalia is returned to the “owner” regardless of drug content because it doesn’t meet the threshold of what the county attorney will prosecute for, so the “glass pipes are returned”.

Marijuana use in our building is only a civil issue and the Sheriff will NOT be part of it, even if it’s SELLING IN A SCHOOL ZONE. 

Drunkenness is a civil issue, regardless of your house rules. 

Our only option is eviction…. That is a 60 day (at best) process… Here is how it works: We pay a lawyer (we are required to have a lawyer) a couple grand to do an eviction in court… the guy being evicted automatically gets a free lawyer… We have to pay our lawyer to sit and wait while the person being evicted meets with the lawyer that just showed up at the hearing (no body asked for the lawyer, they just appear), not before the hearing, at the start of the hearing…  to meet the “client” for the first time.

We won’t get paid  “rent, food, helping clean, laundry and health care services” for two months or more, because we are treated like regular landlords. Legally we are required to provide all these services, regardless of getting paid or not. 

WE DO NOT get the benefits of being a healthcare facility and have patients transferred to a more suitable facility.

WE DO NOT get the benefits of ejecting a guest like a motel does.

WE DO NOT get protection from tenancy laws like an apartment building. 

The client gets tenancy protections in our facility as soon as the “head hits the pillow” the very first night.

We have to “take the client” prior to knowing if we are going to get paid by the county for services (we actually have to guess, based on what the client tells us)

The county does not give “tenancy” (in the county) to the person for 60 days, but that only applies to the county when they don’t want to pay…… the client still gets tenancy in our building, automatically. 

So much more, this is why our legal system is such a mess, loopholes, easy outs, and catch phrases…. County attorneys that don’t prosecute according to the law but rather according to popular opinions and political agendas. The Sheriff is bound to the county attorney like a nursing child, unable to step out and enforce the written law because it is not politically vibrant… for the county officials, remember, we have an election to think about. 

I love our deputies, lieutenants and all the law enforcement officers!  The Sheriffs dept is fantastic at explaining why Sams Place has so little protection from violators. The law enforcement in our county does what they can, but it’s not enough.

I was told Itasca has a relatively low crime rate. I am starting to think it’s not the crime rate that is low but rather the prosecution of the law that is low, but that’s just my opinion… 

We believe God has a bigger plan, we get discouraged, and God gives us HOPE. So many times we find renewed hope. 

We are leading 4 groups inside Sam’s Place right now and we would love to get some help. Help leading, help funding, help in prayer…  

PS. WE ARE HIRING. 

Sam’s Place is looking for a strong individual to run the daily operations. 

Sam’s Place is looking for other staffing as well. 

Spring Lake Heating is looking to hire a guy that would like to live in the north woods and perhaps take over the shop eventually.

Jess and I have discovered, we can’t do everything, but we can do something. How about you?

In service of our KING! C.