A win, win, win situation for Maine and its citizens.

On a recent Saturday, about 70 men and women crowded into the National Guard armory in Bath to begin serving their sentences for drunk driving.  In the past, these offenders would have gone to jail with no education or effort to come face-to-face with the increasingly deadly results of their actions.  

But thanks to an innovative and entrepreneurial alternative program designed by Volunteers of America Northern New England in concert with Sheriff Mark Westrum, they will be detained in the armory for up to a week.  During that time, they perform much needed community services, receive extensive education and substance abuse counseling, and confront the life-changing consequences of drinking and driving.  All of the costs of the program are paid in full by the participants — at no cost to the thirteen counties served.

Every day the group rises at 6:00 a.m. and is on a community job site by 8:00 a.m.  They may build a new community center or town hall, sort Scholastic Books, work at a nursing home, refurbish an old lighthouse, fix the house of a disable senior, and many other service programs that would not be possible without them.  They are treated with respect and feel great about their accomplishments, which is an important aspect of rebuilding their self-esteem.

Before they go to sleep on cots in the gray cement block building which holds little comfort or privacy, they receive four hours of alcoholic education, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a class or speakers.  They also meet Ben LaVallee.  They enjoy spending time with him during the program but realize something is wrong.  They are devastated and many break down when they learn Ben was hit by a drunk driver at the age of four.  His life and his family’s was changed forever.  Ben and his story have a powerful and lasting impact well beyond the week.

The program truly is a win, win, win situation for everyone involved and could be replicated at any affiliate.  The individuals learn powerful lessons and are given life-changing tools; communities receive invaluable services; counties save the growing cost of these individuals being incarcerated; and Volunteers of America serves those most in need, saves further tragedy and lives.

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