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by Maureen Hehman Last year a young man was sat attacked with a baseball bat in Drake Park, hence The attacker was a young teenage boy. victim, Ken it is still paralyzed. he crime, seemed even more terrible where it was learned that Ken Bagwell had devoted his life to renee many, teen-age drug addicts in a piperam called Teen Challenge. He was director at the time. That was the first time many suburban residents had heard of Teen Challenge. _ The Teen Challenge building is located on Vine Street in the Over-the-Rhine area. (The Sycamore Deer Park Jaycers paid the mortgage on the eed This “ of pannc bars, ree and poorer people trying to get along is a long way frm suburbia, but the problem of drug addiction is right in our own back yard. my nerego to the Reverends Skip Neubarth and Jim Gray. They head up the _ Street operation since the attack on Ken rugs are more available than ever before, accor ding to the men and they are in the schools. Neubarth and Gray include alcohol and non prescription drugs in this category. The men who come through the Teen Challenge rogram are not just from Vine Street. They are from Ash-Sycamore and other suburban areas as well. What do kids get at Teen Challenge? For one thing, a get pince. They also get a good chance to be truly rehabilitated. program is religion centered. Boys need not adhere to any particular sect of Christianity, but a general Christian life is taught. The directors look for a true religious awakening in program members. The young men who have this religious experience are the most likely to succed in kicking a drug habit, according to Rev. Neubarth. The Teen Challenge is under the auspices of the Assemblies of God Church, but is not financially sup ported by this church. It is funded through local financial contributions. Boys and young men get other things at Teen Challenge. They get a warm bed and clean, homey surroundings. They get firm but loving discipline, may be their first encounter with a routine. Boys must get up, dress, eat, help with ac tivities at the center, attend classes in Christian liv ing. They may also experience for the first times in their lives another person's concern for their welfare. While the program is religion centered, human concerns and problems are dealt with professionally. here are volunteer doctors and psychiatrists on the staff. There are volunteers skilled in helping with learning disabilities. The program emphasizes spiritual, intellectual and physical well-being. The spiritual is the most in rtant, however, according to Teen Challenge. Without it, rehabilitation is not possible. life at Teen Challenge is orderly. It is also somewhat austere - no TV, no newspapers, routines, outings only according to schedule. The door is open for those who want to leave. And many leave. But of those who stay and complete the entire Rogen, 70 percent are rehabilitated. The Teen challenge criteria for a cure is rather rigid. Program officials count as cured only those boys who are off drugs, off alcoholic and cigarettes and who are func tioning profitably in their communities and churches. Sixty percent of the boys who come to Teen Challenge come through the courts. There is probably no other program which has such a success faid to tell and the courts are eager to place boys there . There are 18 beds at the Vine Street fee. About 50 boys complete the program in a year. costs Teen Challenge about $3,000 to put one boy through the program which lasts a year with various pees, including work sani. It costs the Ohio oath Commission between $13,000 and $15,000 to maintain a boy for a year. There are 88 Teen Challenges in the United States and 100 worldwide. They and the boys who are rehabilitated have at least one thing in common, Jesus Christ.
Newspaper Details
Northeast Suburban Life
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Wed, Dec 17, 1975
Page 2
Full Page
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USA 14 Sep 2026
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