Stamped Out

Ten years ago Governor George W. Bush jump-started his faith-based initiative by standing up to Texas bureaucrats over licenses for Teen Challenge. Now Bush administrators in Washington are hassling Teen Challenge groups around the country. The reason? Licensing. | Jamie Dean

On a steamy August morning in Brockton, Mass., 23 men in crisp, red shirts sit shoulder to shoulder in the tunnel of a full-service car wash, praying that the equipment will run smoothly and that their souls will remain steady. It's 6:15 a.m., and the staff of the Star Shine Car Wash is beginning the day with worship. After prayer, Dave Mazzarella, one of the managers of an operation that services nearly 100 cars a day, walks through an immaculate, lemon-scented check-out area stocked with everything from car mats to key chains. "If you could have seen this place four years ago, it was a total wreck," he says. So were the lives of many of the car wash's staff.

Star Shine Car Wash, with its blue-and-white sign advertising "the proven cure for the dirty car epidemic," is an initiative of a local chapter of Teen Challenge, a Christian-based, residential drug and alcohol recovery program. Founded in 1958 by David Wilkerson, Teen Challenge has 185 centers across the United States serving some 5,000 residents with a recovery approach that's Christ-saturated and work-driven. More than 2,000 men and women graduate annually from the one-year program, and Teen Challenge boasts long-term success rates of 67 percent to 85 percent among graduates.

The program's impressive results have drawn accolades from Presidents Ronald Reagan and both presidents Bush. George W. Bush, who credits faith in Christ in his own victory over extensive alcohol use, has praised Teen Challenge for a decade, saying it works "to change people's lives by changing their hearts." In 2003 Mr. Bush invited Teen Challenge graduate Henry Lozano to sit in the First Lady's box as an honored guest during the State of the Union address in which the president told the nation: "Let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you."