Rural Camp Offers an Escape From Skid Row

Freeing young men from the self-destruction and degradation of Skid Row in central Los Angeles is the prime goal at Whispering Pines, a Christian camp located in rural Mariposa County.

“This is a different experience, but I’m away from the bad influences and the drugs,” said Daladier Woods, 21, of Los Angeles. He started smoking rock cocaine in junior high school.

“I was at a helpless point, but now my life is changing,” said Woods.

The Los Angeles-based Crossroads School in Christian Development for the past decade has tried to turn around the lives of young men in the inner city. Frustrated with a high rate of recidivism, program managers two years ago tried a new tack and refurbished a camp in the rural Sierra Nevada 250 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

“The rehab centers don’t help,” said Woods, “Those NA (Narcotics Anonymous) and AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) places have you get up and admit you’re hooked, but what does that do? It didn’t cut it. I would still go back.”

Crossroads director John Paris said the program departs dramatically from the approach of its sponsoring organization, the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles.

“The mission is there to house and accommodate anyone, anytime, but this program is designed only for people willing to make the commitment in their time and energies to get their lives together,” Paris said.

The young men entering the Crossroads program, typically cocaine addicts in their early 20s, first are screened for one to two months in the mission’s main building in Los Angeles.

“Guys just looking for three hots and a cot don’t belong in the program. It’s only for students wanting to change their lives,” said Paris. The 14 young men selected are told what’s expected of them for the next 1 1/2 years and are challenged to trust Christ as their savior.

For the second phase, students are taken to Midpines, about 30 miles west of Yosemite National Park, where they undergo an extensive program that targets social, physical, vocational and academic skills. Students are expected to pass tests in Bible knowledge.

“We put them in a pressure cooker,” said Paris. “They’ve kept it concealed--things like child abuse, sexual abuse and gang violence. We try to draw it out and get them to deal with it.”

Trained counselors assist the youths in coming to grips with their pasts. Students also are placed in tough outdoor situations involving rock climbing, hiking--similar to the Outward Bound concept.

“They are put in stressful situations and forced to trust each other. That’s not the kind of thing they are used to on the streets,” said Paris.

Those who graduate from the program are eligible for the final transition: entering a community under church sponsorship. The student finds a self-supporting job and the church helps make ends meet, spiritually and financially.

While some youths return to Los Angeles, 25-year-old Arthur Pickens chose to stay in Midpines with the help of Midpines Bible Church.

Paris said the program has enjoyed enough success to add 10 additional students this fall.

“The students have shown significant changes, complete life style changes,” said Paris. “It’s very encouraging to see this kind of growth.”