When participants walk through the doors of the Long Beach Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center, they begin a six-month journey toward rehabilitation.
Throughout the six months, participants of the program, which seeks to help men recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, spend eight hours a day working through the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, attending Bible classes, therapy and counseling, explained Captain Dan Garrett.
“My ultimate hope for the people that go through this program is that every man that comes through my door can succeed and get his life right,” Garrett said. “I know we offer and give what it takes to help a person, but it takes more on the individual themselves to come through the doors, that they gotta want this as much as I want to give it.”
After completing the first six months, participants can apply for a second phase, or an additional six months, where they can work toward finding employment.
Six men are currently in the third phase, meaning they have found employment and are paying a small fee to stay at the facility, while they work toward finding permanent housing.
Unlike many other rehabilitation programs, everything from shelter, clothing, and daily meals are entirely free to the men, apart from additional items such as snacks that can be purchased at the Salvation Army canteen, Garrett said.
Funding for the program is primarily through Salvation Army thrift stores, which sells donated goods including clothing, shoes and houseware. The Long Beach store is successful, consistently meeting its monthly goals, Garrett noted.
Men are connected to the Salvation Army through a variety of sources, including referrals from family members or churches, as well as the court and prison systems.
For Garrett, the mission of the Salvation Army is personal.
“I’m one of them,” Garrett said. “Years and years and years of going into prison, selling drugs, doing what I shouldn’t have been doing, and God pulled me out of that. And here today, he placed me in a position where I can help those that were just like me.”
The last time Garrett stepped foot on a prison yard was 1997, he said. In 2017, Garrett and his wife, Taneya Garrett, graduated from the Salvation Army college for officer training.
When Garrett was appointed to the Long Beach location in 2018, the building was in need of a wide range of repairs, he said.
“It was really, really disturbing to me,” Garrett said.
The building, originally a hotel, was constructed in 1922, and the Salvation Army moved into the facility in 1988.
In 2020, Garrett embarked on a lengthy effort to remodel the 101-bed facility, including relocating a second-floor kitchen to the first floor, transforming the second floor entirely into living quarters, plus numerous repairs. Its new facility also includes a game room and two movie rooms for recreation.
While remnants of its former life as a hotel are still visible, the facility has been vastly improved, Garrett said.
“The mission of what we do is a beautiful thing, but what (the remodel) does for the men is give them a whole different outlook and aspect on life,” Garrett said. ”When we first moved in, one of my questions was, ‘Have you ever had anything new?’ And the majority of (the men said) ‘No.’ Well I said, ‘You’ve got a whole brand new facility to help get your life right.’”
While renovations were technically completed in September 2021, Garrett still has a number of ideas to keep improving the facility, which at some point, could include adding a transitional living space.
“It was just amazing to watch the men take ownership,” Garrett said. “You know, we treat this as if we’re a family. But we also understand and know that we can’t do this without them.”
While the Salvation Army initially began in England in 1865, it has since spread its mission across the world, and the Long Beach Salvation Army facility is one of 19 rehabilitation programs throughout the Western territory.
The need for a program like this has only grown over time; in recent years, Garrett has seen men entering into the program at younger ages and with more severe needs, particularly as the opioid and fentanyl epidemic has worsened across the country, he said.
“People are just coming in worse than they were back before,” Garrett said. “Now, they’re dealing with dual diagnosis, more than just addicted to drugs and alcohol, they’re now dealing with emotional aspects or mental illness.”
While the Salvation Army facility is not a mental illness treatment facility and is unable to assist with more severe needs, it does offer the opportunity for rehabilitation, with a spiritual focus, Garrett said.
“They come in broken, not knowing who they are, and walking side by side with them, and watching them get to know themselves—then you can see the life coming back into them,” Garrett said. “Then, to see them graduate, and then seeing them standing there blossoming like a beautiful flower, and then just seeing them taking hold of what they learned and going off into the next chapter in their life is just like, wow.”
“It’s a beautiful thing to see a man get his life right,” Garrett added. “Not just for himself, but for his loved ones, his sons, his daughters, his wife, to where now he can live life at a whole different level with them. That’s just beautiful.”
The Long Beach Salvation Army Thrift Store and rehabilitation center is located at 1370 Alamitos Ave.