Most of the time, when someone writes a letter to the editor, it has a negative connotation to it. This is not one of those letters.

I would like to thank and commend Councilman Gary Hudes and Legislator Dennis Dunne. Anytime I have called with a question and/or concern, they have immediately responded and have helped with the area of concern. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated men in our community who truly care about their constituents.

Maria J. Hughes

St. Bernard's Catholic Church is situated on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown, directly opposite Progress House, perhaps 100 yards away across the Turnpike. For most of their co-existence these two institutions have had no relationship, facing each other mutely across the endless surge of highway traffic.

But then a breakthrough, of sorts. Some parishioners took the big step of visiting Progress House, meeting with the staff and clients and learning of the history and mission of the institution. We discovered that Progress House is a state-sponsored facility devoted to follow-up therapeutic care for persons suffering from a variety of mental and emotional illnesses, the very same maladies found widely in the general population. The staff of Progress House includes psychiatrists, psychologists, registered nurses and other specialists trained to assist the rehabilitation of the emotionally distressed. Appropriate medications are prescribed and dispensed and every client is closely supervised. It must be emphasized that none of the clients are drug-users or drug-addicted. No drug treatments, such as methadone, are dispensed at Progress House and none have ever been. As we parishioners have come to know the facts, and more importantly, the people of Progress House, we have been chagrinned to realize how long it took us to make the trip across Hempstead Turnpike and to experience the sweet and gentle nature of the clients. We found it a delightful experience to assist at client meals, to offer them treats on special occasions and to engage them in quiet, pleasant conversations. Having thus had our eyes opened, we feel distressed to realize how little understanding of Progress House and its mission is found in our community.

A particular and perverse example of this community ignorance is the reaction of the local political structure to Progress House's proposal that it be permitted to relocate to the much larger and ideally configured building formerly occupied by P.C. Richards. Echoing the "NIMBY" outcry of persons either ignorant or malicious, some of whom mindlessly repeat false charges against the people of Progress House, our politicians, none of whom has visited Progress House, have united as one to block the move to a much-needed larger facility. Indeed, one of these leaders said that Progress House's presence in the P.C. Richards' building would be a "disaster," a toxic agent in the neighborhood of our library and swimming pool. This paranoid nonsense would be amusing were it not malignant and calumnious. A visit to Progress House and a meaningful conversation with its staff would acquaint the politicians with these facts: The clients are non-violent, have no relation to drug use, are under strict supervision by a staff which knows where each person is at every moment of the day.

We members of St. Bernard's Church, who have come to know the goodness of Progress House and its clients, are prayerfully anxious that our community will come to know what we have heard and seen.

William F. Reilly, Ph.D.