Copy of a letter I just sent to Greenald and Lampitt

Just for everone's information......BTW, nice job last night, I think they got the point!!


Mr. Greenwald and Ms Lampitt,

I want to first and foremost thank you for attending and helping to organize the meeting at Cherry Hill Town Hall last night. Although I personally feel some individuals displayed bad manners and made poorly thought out and tasteless comments, I think it should be perfectly clear now as to what our position is as a neighborhood and community. We DO NOT want this home or ANY HOME LIKE IT in our neighborhood.

So you can picture who I am, I was the man with the shaved head, black shirt, and I introduced the panel to my young daughter Anna and her little friend Alex during my comments last night. These kids are my world and my most important possession. I will not stand by quietly while a group home for (by their own admission) potentially violent and out of control individuals (or "reactive" as they like to call them) is placed in the same neighborhood and schools where my kids live and play. I can't take the chance that one of them will "lose it" and harm one of my kids while they play with their friends.

This company has lost our trust and will not be able to regain it. I know they say the occupants will be supervised, but I know in reality they will have wiggle room. If they didn't, they wouldn't have nearly 20% of their occupants needing police intervention each year. I also know that they state they wouldn't place their "second chance" program there, but that doesn't mean that some of the potential occupants won't have problems pertaining to a sexual nature, again, by their own admission. (I believe the term "reactive" was used here also)

In closing, I'm asking you, as our representatives, to represent us, to carry out our desires, to look out for our kid’s best interests, not the interests of a private for-profit company.

Thank you for your time,

Jay Heine

Nicely put, Jay. I think that it is a good idea for everyone to flood their email boxes with letters like this. You can easily find them through google and it only takes a minute.

Thank you Jay I am 100% will stand with you!!!

nice job jay
eric

I agree. I sent an e-mail to Mayor Platt thanking him for the meeting & restating our position that the group home should not be in Brookfield. Thanks to all for your efforts & hard work!

These kids could have conduct disorders...very very very bad. One of the behaviors associated with conduct disorder, according to the DSM IV R (book psychologist's use to make diagnosis), is sneaking out in the middle of the night. Doesn't make me feel at ease.

Thank you for speaking out for all of our children, Jay!! You made the point that all of us were trying to get out there.

Thank you for that letter. I believe in what New Jersey Mentor does but I also believe that a neighborhood is not the appropriate place to do it. How can 2 adults supervise 5 grown children with different behavior problems? When the 2 adults and 5 grown children are outside, how can the adults (who are outnumbered) protect our children from mishaps? If 1 adult is attending to 1 grown child outside, how does the other 1 adult prevent the other 4 grown children from wandering off? If 2 adults are "bicycling" around the neighborhood with 5 grown children, how do they prevent them from riding away. The 2 adults will always be outnumbered by the 5 grown children and I don't see how that can be safe for the 2 adults, the 5 grown children or the neighborhood. Like I said, I believe in what NJ Mentor is doing, but I don't think that a neighborhood is an appropriate place.