Pastor defends Good Samaritan program
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 6 months AGO
Tim Remington
File photo
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | July 20, 2023 1:06 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — In 21 years, the Good Samaritan Rehabilitation program based in Coeur d’Alene has helped thousands of men and women.
But, for Pastor Tim Remington of The Altar Church, who started the faith-based, nonprofit organization, it’s doing more than freeing people of drug and alcohol addictions. He said it provides hope and a new direction in life.
“I have seen close to 4,000 radical changes in lives,” he said Wednesday.
Good Samaritan Rehabilitation is close to Remington’s heart, because he knows the impact it has had on those who have gone through it. So, when the program and those who work in it are questioned, he wants to respond.
“Why doesn't somebody just call and ask?” he said.
Good Samaritan has been targeted on social media after The Press published a story July 14 on Joshua A. Ash, 29, of Coeur d’Alene, who pleaded guilty in April to injury to a child, a felony, and to disseminating material harmful to minors, a misdemeanor.
Judge Scott Wayman sentenced Ash to eight years in prison, two years fixed, six years indeterminate and six months credit for time served.
Charges stem from January, when a probation officer searching Ash’s residence discovered a 15-year-old girl hiding in his bedroom closet.
The girl told investigators that she had known Ash for about two years and they had a sexual relationship, The Press reported.
Prosecutors said Ash met the teen through Good Samaritan, according to The Press.
Remington, who survived being shot several times outside his church about seven years ago, said that is not accurate.
“They did not meet in Good Samaritan," he said.
He said programs for men and women are separate, of different lengths and they do not mix.
Remington said the only time men and women in Good Samaritan get together is in church, and even then, they sit on opposite sides in the sanctuary.
Good Samaritan is generally for those 18 and older, but under some circumstances it accepts minors.
He said Ash and the teen both went through Good Samaritan, but more than three years apart, and did not meet.
They met later outside the program, he said, beyond Good Samaritan Rehabilitation.
“We do not condone at all with what happened to those two,” he said.
Remington said social media comments attacking Good Samaritan since The Press story have affected staff morale and could impact operations. The program costs about $50,000 a month and is funded primarily by donations and also enrollment fees.
He said online accusations, even when they are inaccurate, can raise questions about Good Samaritan's effectiveness and raise doubts in the minds of donors.
That’s why Remington said the program has been trouble-free in its two decades of helping men and women overcome drug and alcohol addictions and reclaim their lives in the name of Jesus Christ.
“Integrity is everything with me,” he said.
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